Februrary Monthly Summary

Feb has been a successful month. In the end of Jan, My goal was 60 training hours for this month. I only ended up half an hour shy which is pretty good. I almost did hop on the spinner for an hour tonight just to seal the deal but whatever close enough right? The month started warm and and ended up with some nasty cold that didn't allow me to commute for a couple of weeks minus one time and also making biking a chore. Luckily, I got my spinervals just in time to save the week and at least give me something this last week. Admittedly, the final week was more focused on running and the recovery next week will have more biking. The month saw four solid weekend mountainesque long runs with the addition of a mid week 18 mile flat lander one week, at least one trip up the incline each week, and some decent biking but no bike rides over 2 hours. I'm glad I am more running focused as that is where the money is in Leadville but I do need some longer bike efforts. I tried one day but got stopped by deep snow so there you have it.... Some quick comparisons. Looking at my predictions from last month, I predicted 200 running miles and ended with 208.6. That was about 14 mi less than last month but in exchange was almost 3 hours more because the elevation gain was over 7k more despite having 3 less days in the month. I'll take that any day. Looking at the biking, I was hoping for many more miles at 450 vs the 312 I got but what are you gonna do. It was still better than the 273 miles from Jan. I have noticed that on the rollers, my miles are lower respectively than spinners or outdoors. This is natural because the wheels do not spin when you do not pedal. My biking elevation gain was spot on with the prediction at 12K and the actual at 12.5K. I would say I did a good job at being consistent despite the weather this month. I just need to keep carrying the momentum into future months and I should have a very successful spread at Leadman. Looking quickly back at last year, Feb is where I dropped of the radar. I went down to 29 hours of running of which the final 3 weeks saw no long runs and only 3 runs a week. I have now hung on longer than last year already. That said, I think my MAF is still not as good as before I dropped off last year although it is definitely better than the day I did Salida. What I did have then was still speed but the aerobic engine should prove stronger this year and I can hold onto the speed until the end where I can unleash the fury rather than limp in to finish.

As a side note, I finally started booking housing for the events and it has been a mistake to wait this long. I think I have a house locked for the marathon but that is it so far. For the 100 bike, there is absolutely nothing left in town including the hostel so it will either be camping or else staying up the road in BV. For the 100 run, I have a hopeful prospect but it is a smaller house than I was hoping for. Very close to the race start/ finish line though. For the Silver Rush 50s, there are properties. I just need to get one. I was just hoping to have a same house as another race but it looks that they will all be different houses and I won't be able to bring the dog to any but the Marathon.

Actual Numbers:
Miles Run: 208.6
Miles Biked: 312
Total Running Time: 37:50
Total Biking Time: 21:32
Running Elevation Gain: 32,847
Biking Elevation Gain: 12,516

Total miles:  521
Total Time: 59:22
Total Gain: 45,363'



Loose Training Goals From Jan 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'

Jan's numbers for comparison:

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'

Looking forward to March, I want to lay down a few more goals to see if I cam be realistic and meet them. March I think should look a lot like Feb but hopefully even better. The first week of the month will be an easy rest week but the extra 3 days in the month should make up the difference. I will hold the running mileage, gain, and time goals all the same as it is a pretty solid baseline but I want to pipe up the biking a bit more to the same goal as last month. I want to get at least 25 hours on the bike with one or two 3 hour or longer efforts mixed in there. While big snows can happen in March, things should start warming up a bit so commuting should get easier again which will automatically up my elevation gain. Commuting one day round trip gives me 1k of gain that if I just ride on the trainer I don't get. Really, these numbers look identical to last month except that my biking elevation gain, I moved up 3K. This really all depends on weather. If it permits, I could see the biking gain hitting 20k. All in all, the overall time I am looking for about 60 hours again since I have set the precedence. Either way, I only had 24 hours total in March last year so that shouldn't be hard to beat as I am planning on more than doubling it.

Loose Training Goals For Mar:

Miles Run: 200
Miles Biked: 400
Total Running Time: 35 Hours
Total Biking Time: 25 Hours
Running Elevation gain: 25,000'
Biking Elevation Gain: 15,000'

Until next month...

See you at the top!

Cold but HOT!!!

Today was an important day in that it was my last scheduled Long run before the Salida Run Through Time Marathon in a couple weeks. It was also key because this week is a stretch week. Normally, I do 3 weeks good hard training and one week "rest" where I greatly reduce the volume. In order to line up with a nice taper for the race, I went 4 weeks this time before the rest. Anyhow, forecasts this morning were similar to normal.... COLD. I was looking at upper teens for the Manitou area to start a run between 5 and 7 pm and get 22ish miles. I was looking to possibly repeat some or all of the Frozen Foggy Bonanza 28 mile route I did last year which was a reverse course of last year's Fatass but adding in sect 16 and taking out Rocky Mtn. and Mt. Manitou. Waking up this morning, I did a last weather check to discover that the temps were much lower than forecasted. They were 4 degrees. Crap. I can do a handful of miles in that kind of cold but didn't want to enjoy a day in it. I started to wonder if I was going to finally breakdown and hit the treadmill or else just have a shorter run. I also started to wonder how packed some of the trails on my selected route were and did not desire to run in deep snow. I needed distance, speed, and climbing so I decided to go where I knew I could get all of those. I went to do laps of the incline returning all of the way back to Memorial park each time. Doing this, I could swap for dry clothes at the car, warm up, drink some broth get food and water refills etc. This would make the cold easier. I secretly wanted 4 laps but knew I didn't probably have that long of a kitchen pass. While my wife would have let me do it, I know she wouldn't have been happy because Saturdays I have to get a nap in so I can start my night shifts. Being gone too late and taking a later nap meant no family time. That sucks for me too. Anyhow... I did take some pics the first lap but I need to upload from my cam so maybe I will drop them later this week. First lap started just after seven am, I tried to keep it at MAF or nearly at MAF. The goal was to keep each lap at 90 minutes or less including the pit stop in between etc. After a 5 min walking warmup, I began to jog up Ruxton and did the first lap at a 157 HR. I felt slow given the effort and was indeed with a 37:17 first to last step time. It was pretty cold to start but by the time I got to the incline, I had my jacket off and was rocking my purple PPM shirt and sweating my arse off. There is still tons of snow up there and dudes were actually shoveling a bit of it which was pretty cool. The descent was pretty fast which was what I wanted. I was hitting in the low sevens for pace down Barr Trail and back into town. After a quick stop to drop off some Habanero chili from yesterday's breakfast after the incline, I was at the car grabbing a new water bottle and heading back out. The goal was to drink at least 24 oz each lap to stay properly hydrated. I took off for lap 2 around 1:35 into the run so I was a bit behind but feeling great. Lap one I had never put my jacket back on because I let my shirt dry on the chilly descent so I left it in the car along with my Mountain Hardware Guide gloves and went with thin cotton gloves with hand warmers for lap 2 and no jacket. I quickly jogged back to the incline at MAF pace and then took off for my next lap. New territory as I have never gotten to do this beast more than once in a day although I had always talked about it. The legs felt great and once again, the goal was to stay at MAF in fat burning mode so I would have energy to do this whole escapade and finish feeling good. I made this lap also at a 157 HR avg and the time was 35:45 so was about 90 seconds faster at the same effort. Both laps I was so hot in the cold temps so far. With the incline facing east, the sun was directly at my back and I was soaked with sweat. This time my descent was about 30 seconds slower but roughly the same but my avg HR was 150 vs. 155 the first time. I think I went slower because my shirt was literally freezing solid and it was weird. Total round trip time must have been about 1:23 because I was back to the car with 2:58 on my watch so that lap was a bit faster all around between no potty stops and no jacket swaps while moving. Getting back to the car, I grabbed yet another bottle of water, ate a banana, and headed out for a third lap deciding this would be my last but that maybe I would add some extra credit for not getting to do number 4. Heading up Ruxton, my pace was a bit slower at MAF effort but I was still feeling great. This time, I had dropped my frozen shirt and went with the jacket sans shirt. Upon starting the incline, I just went shirtless which seemed weird in the still sub 15 degree temps. I did get some funny looks but even then I sweated so much and stayed warm enough. I remember steam coming off my body as I climbed. Since this was my last lap, I decided to push a little harder as I didn't need to save energy for anything. This time at avg. HR 162 tor the whole thing, I was up in 32:51. Only 5 BPM higher avg and almost 3 minutes faster with the legs not worse for the wear. I know for sure had I had the time and taken this lap at MAF, a 4th lap at same efforts would have been totally possible. Anyhow, after putting the jacket back on at the top, I decided to keep hiking up. This trail was much less packed than the connector trail but was still alright. In no hurry, I made the up stuff a breeze and started heading down. I decided if there was a cut trail up Rocky Mtn. that I would take it but there was not a recent one and I wasn't into post holing so I continued down to Barr. Once I hit it, I took the extra credit of going up a lil further to the french creek turnoff. Although, I had energy to make another hasty descent, I decided to take this one easy and be glad I am not injured. I maintained HR around 130 for this descent and walked the last half mile back to the car to cool down. This wrapped up the day with 4:37 moving time and 4:55 total time still feeling pretty good. I then proceeded to try and get a growler at Manitou Brewing but apparently they don't sell them yet. It seemed they had them and sometimes sell them but apparently I did not look cool enough in my tights to warrant one. All in all, another successful day in the mountains with just over 7K total elevation gain as my final "long" run for Salida.

Until Next time...

See you at the top!

Still Trucking

Didn't post the last couple days. Sleep took me over too early and I suppose it just wasn't a priority. The storm is rolling but I am still getting work done. After the first ten miler earlier in the week, the legs were still a bit sluggish. 

Wednesday

I went for another med distance run and clocked one at just over 11 miles. After getting off night shift and grabbing breakfast with some of the crew down at Sandy's, I headed back out to Schriever looking forward to a potluck with an old work group. Knowing I really only had time for 8 miles, I really wanted to run the base perimeter as it is dirt/packed snow vs pavement. I guess I forgot how far around it was because it ended up being almost 11.5. The first few miles, I held a steady 7:30 effort with some decent climbing and then quickly got tired. It had also started off sunny and mid 30s so I went with a T-Shirt, gloves and shorts. With the wind it was great but eventually, I had to face the wind which also picked up and brought clouds to block the sun. The second half got cold and my legs got sluggish. Amazing how just the addition of a tiny bit of speed work over MAF can really take it out of you. I wanted to hop on the bike at home that night but I was just too tired.

Thursday

The legs still were feeling sluggish so I decided to give a go at the new Spinervals cardio video that was a 90 min sesh targeted on Leadville. It was a great workout with higher cadences than I am used to but it kept me up to and right below MAF the entire time. Good 23 miles on the day for the bike and a third 90 min day in a row. Still behind a bit for the week to wrap the month for 60 hours but I'm glad to listen to the body. 

Friday

Morning- Incline. It was about five degrees when I started but it felt ok. Somehow forgot my balaclava or any hat but wasn't about to drive back home so I improvised with a hood and hat too keep ears covered. It is really just jogging down you need something for the ears. I dressed up the pup with booties and his coat to keep him warmer and prevent frost bite and we went after it. Keeping my HR mostly at MAF, it was an effort with lots of slippage since there was virtually no wood to be seen. Once it got steep, it was a lot of effort to push the dog as he was slipping too much in the booties and got timid. That rose my HR a tiny bit but all was good. Stepping off the beaten one lane trail yielded to about knee deep snow up higher than the false summit. The jog down started slow but I picked it up a bit in the lower half since it wasn't so cold down there and the face wasn't s numb. Getting back to the car, Baz had icicles all over and was shivering. First time I have ever seen him cold. I covered him with a blanket and my puffy to get out of there. 2.5K' and 6.5 miles done with another 90 minutes.

Afternoon- During the child's nap, I spun the bike for over an hour and forty five while the wife and I caught up on a couple episodes of Grey's anatomy. First half the HR stayed in mid 140s mostly and second half was upper 120s to lower 130s. Total of over four hours for the day and just contemplating my last long run tomorrow before Salida and what I should do. It has been so snowy for so long. I don't want to waste time cutting trail but I also  don't think trails will be icy. I would like elevation gain so something on the west side. I was thinking 4 laps of the incline all returning to memorial park or else maybe 3 laps of Barr trail to No name knowing it will be mostly packed. Third option is to repeat my frozen foggy bonanza route from last year but I suspect some of the trails will not be packed and it could take more time than I am willing to spend. I guess I will decide sometime. With tomorrow being the last day of the month, I think I will slightly miss the 60 hour mark unless my run takes over 5 hours. Important thing is that I have listened to my body and not dishing out more than it can handle. 

Until Next time...

See you at the top. 

Slippery Sunny Ten mile jog with occasional intervals

Feeling sort of guilty for my off day yesterday, I decided to make it up with a ten miler around the neighborhood today. Despite the amount of lingering snow and ice, temps in the low 30s felt almost hot with a long sleeve t-shirt and tights today (Yes I wore the dirty 50K tights from sat if you were wondering). I first tried to brave the fresh snow on the Rock Island trail but it felt hard even at a 10 min pace so I turned after about half a mile into the neighborhood where  the HOA has nicely plowed most of the paths. Took the path up hill and started a couple of half mile or so intervals after the first couple miles. First one felt good and got down to low seven min range. Second one was uphill and was once again in the low sevens but towards the end my right IT band got tight which I haven't felt a twinge in since I started training by the Maffetone Method vs. going so hard every day. At that point, I decided I didn't want to overstress the body so I just ran. Even though it was slightly averaging uphill, I dropped back to around an 8 min pace after cooling down from the interval for the next few miles. At just over 7 miles, I picked it up again and ran in the low sevens downhill for another quarter mile until I hit an Unplowed section of path. With about 2 miles to go, I made one last half mileish push and was in the 6:45 to 6:50 range and feeling good and sustainable about it. After that I cooled down to the finish at just over ten miles and no twinges anywhere. The cost of the extra time running, I lost in sleep and only had time for seven hours today so that I could get up and have dinner with the fam.

Funny that even though I am running with a "plan" now for my self coaching, I am still running like I don't have one. Before, I kept a general idea of what I wanted to do each week and recently got more organized. Fun part of a plan is I still like to be more flexible and listen to my body. Let it rip when it is time and take it easy or rest when it is time for that which appears to waver day to day or even during a single workout. The body has to be in the right state to get done what you need to do. All in all, last year I was in great aerobic shape and still kept my anaerobic speed up so even though I dropped volume almost completely after the first week of Feb, I was able to rock a decent time at Salida because the very few runs I did do were at a seven min pace which I wouldn't even dream of doing right now. That said, my aerobic ability is gaining quickly and I am beginning to really feel the fitness. I am very close to where I was aerobically last year so remaining solid, I think I have a great chance at beating my Salida time as long as there isn't crazy snow or ice there which is possible. I can guarantee that my avg HR will be lower there one way or the other. Last year I remember running up some of the hills and telling myself to try and keep my HR below 185 even at what felt like what should be a med effort. I bet same effort this year I will be more at low 160s but I guess we will see. That said, I gotta keep working in some speed work so I can try and sustain some good speed on the downs late in the race. I think just being in better maintained shape, my endurance alone will allow me a faster second half this year even if the first half is the same. Anyhow. Enough rambling. Less talk and more work gets the job done. I am planning another ten miles tomorrow morning and a 2 hour bike spin in the evening so it should be a solid day.

Rest Day

Wasn't planning on today being a rest day. It just kind of happened. After training for 21 days straight without a full day off, I suppose it is time. Got home this morning and shoveled the driveway in 4 deg. On the drive home, I thought I would finally give in and run the treadmill. Upon shoveling, I thought the outside temp was bearable enough with not too much wind. After eating breakfast, I was enjoying snuggling too much with my son and then got sleepy. I planned on just a 90 minute spin when I got up instead before going to work. After getting up after a solid 8 hours of sleep, I was groggy. When it came time to hop on the bike, I simply wasn't interested. My body isn't super tired, I just wasn't interested. I spent my extra time reading a few extra books to my son who is ever so deserving and awesome.

In all fairness, this should be a rest week anyhow if I was doing 3 on and 1 off but I really wanted it to be next week. Perhaps this week will be just that though with the weather and I just won't have the taper before Salida. Don't really need it I suppose though. We will just have to see how things play out but I kind of need to decide to either rest or don't and not be wishy washy. I need to be purposeful. Either way, I hope to get in a last good long run this weekend with some harder tempo efforts and not have too long of one next weekend.

Wanting to fold and finally hit a treadmill, I am wavering on that decision. I as most runners do loathe treadmills. I like Sherpa John's stance that you build the right might mind by overcoming adversity of outside. I also understand that they can be a good training tool. Much the same I do not like climbing in indoor gyms either... Why? because I am an adventurist overall as this blog states and doing these activities indoors simply removes the adventure. But case in point, if I am so stubborn that I don't want to run on a treadmill a single time this year but then I don't run outside either because it is cold, would a treadmill have been better? Part of me says yes because at least the training would have gotten done but my honest opinion is that I didn't run for other reasons today and would have preferred to run out in the cold and snow than indoors still so I am happy with my virtue to withhold from the rubber wheel for now. Perhaps I will fold another day but today I am happy just resting.

Until next time.

See you at the top!

Summary of Training Week 16 to 22 Feb 2015

Weekly Totals:

Miles Run: 59.7
Hours Run:10:30
Running Elevation Gain:7,129'

Miles Biked:79.7
Hours Biked:5:53
Biking Elevation Gain: 3,665'
Total Power:3,594

Total Training Time:16:23
Total Elevation Gain: 10,794'

Summary: What can I say? Another successful week on the books at 16.5 hours things are looking good. The goal for the month was 60 hours and I am right on track if not slightly ahead. I have 6 of the 7 days this coming week to make that last 13 hours happen. With a goal of 15 hours again, I would not like to save the last two hours until So this shouldn't be a problem except for the weather. It is still snowing as I right this and then the temps are supposed to be very cold the next several days with only one day even forecast to get into the 30s. I will take what I can get I suppose but it may either be a compromise of finally stepping on the mouse wheel dreadmill or settling for slightly less outside and being happy with that. Since I don't have a Fat bike, it looks like honestly all my biking for the week will be inside. Ironically, this should be a rest week as I plan loosely to have a greatly reduced volume week every 4th week but it is a key week in finalizing training for the Salida Run through time Marathon in Mid March. I am holding off one more week before my rest week which will double as a taper all though I don't think it too important to taper for this race. It will still be nice to be fresher for the race.

One thing I do need to focus on is speed. I just want to keep sprinkling it in and stay cautious of what is doing. Looking at speed last year, I was able to still throw down 10 mile runs at seven minute pace even though my total mileage severely dropped in the latter half of Feb. For now, my volume is good and the total monthly hours at 47 is already higher than all but 3 months last year.

A quick summary of this week's blog postings, which by the way I have enjoyed posting daily during my quest for Leadman, shows some good results. I got about equal total elevation gain to last week but the bonus is that I got 60 miles as opposed to my normal 50 baseline. The Fatass helped me do this and then I snuck in an extra run the day prior since I feared not being able to go the whole way during weather. I figured the extra miles at easy effort were a win win for either extra mileage for the week or for insurance to ensure I got my 50 baseline.I had the early week snow run that was a feeble attempt at speed work followed up by a chilly commute and then the obligatory weekly trip up the incline for another accidental PR now at seconds over 28 minutes. That was followed up immediately by a solid climb on Rampart Range Road on the MTB in my tennis shoes vs. clipless. I followed that up with a couple more activities the next days and then sealed the deal for the week with the Headless Horsetooth 50K Fatass I posted about yesterday.

My current class for school is coming to a close so I have my final week there and then have to keep solid for 8 more weeks in my final class until I can finally be done forever. This will be nice to have out of the way so I can focus on Leadman and my family the rest of the season and minimize external stressors. We had also talked about moving this spring but we may hold off on that too just to not introduce too many extra factors.

Until next time...

See you at the top!

Just another spin today

The legs feel fine and dandy after the long jog yesterday but today really came down to time plus letting the body relax anyhow. Being already over the weekly goal of 15 hours, anything today was a bonus anyhow so I went to bed right after breakfast (still working night shift) and then after relaxing for the evening after waking up and having a solid spaghetti dinner, I spun out an hour on the bike at an easy effort while we watched Downton Abbey. Nice way to wrap up another week. Crazy to see that it continued to snow all day and was snowing hard tonight on my drive in. I am wondering if I will stick out the cold and get some outdoor miles tomorrow morning before bed or if I will break down and finally get on a treadmill once for this winter. Part of me wants to hold to not because it is kind of cool to day I haven't but part doesn't really care. I mean, I am spinning on a bike indoors. Last night I did order two Spinnervals videos targeted at Leadville as well so those should provide some good fun on colder days when I don't want to ride outside and freeze my eyes open like that BAMF in Cincinatti.

Headless Horsetooth 50K Fatass

Just one workout today.... Just six and a half hours. Ran the 50K fatass between Loveland and FOCO this morning. I woke up at 3:30 hoping to beat the storm and hauled booty up to Loveland to start on the Blue Sky trail. I was wanting to get an early start and beat the heaviness of the storm back home so as not to get stuck in traffic. My other goal was to run with folks and and meet some new friends and see old friends. Starting that early, I had not made plans to meet anyone certain. I was just going to run with whomever was there at that time. Kicking it off at about 6:15, I took off on the trail north with a handful of other runners. I was wearing 2 lightweight jackets and mountaineering Black diamond guide gloves as it was snowing hard at that point and I wanted to stay dry. Within less than half a mile, I realized the poor decision of the jackets and quickly stripped them off down to my unmistakable purple pikes peak marathon shirt and rocked that not caring if I was wet as long as I was warm. After less than a couple miles at a very easy effort, the group we started with was dwindled and there was only one female behind me. After some chit chat, I learned that her name was Simone (I think) and she was an exchange student from Singapore. Wild that a Singaporean would be running ultras and more wild mountain ultras. Who would have thought. Being that I have been to Singapore, we had fun chatting. Since it was just the two of us, I waited up for her and purposefully controlled my pace. The point of a Fatass is not to just go fast you know. In no time at all (Just over 2 hours) we made the aid station. I was expecting it to be further so at around 10.7ish miles, it was a pleasant surprise.

For a fatass, this aid station was more stocked and better manned than most actual races. After eating some calories, taking a shot of whiskey with the aid crew, and refilling liquids, we continued on the journey.  I carried way too much today in prep for the storm. I was carrying 3 X 24 oz bottles and honestly could have gotten away with just one all day. After drinking less than one to the aid, I chugged the remainder and decided not to refill and still have 2. Here is the whiskey shot...

I didn't even realize I had an Ice beard at 8:30 this morning. My shirt was wet and I was getting cold so we decided to continue on. After making our way around the res, we headed up the nasty hill. Simone told me I didn't have to wait if I wanted to go faster. I was fine with walking as I didn't want to blow out my hammies for the rest of the day. We made our way up, up, up the hill (It can't be a Sherpa John FA without some major hills). At some point, we missed the Harrison turnoff for horsetooth mountain and just kept going up the steep road. We ended up at the top at 15.7 miles and decided that was good enough and we would still get our 50k despite not getting on horsetooth mountain. We took the obligatory selfie up top. With her mostly behind me and beside me all day I didn't realize how young she was. I changed to my dry jacket here for the colder descent

I wasn't about to backtrack several miles so we headed down, down, down back to the aid as we saw the string of other FA'ers heading up the hill. After greeting familiar faces and passing Sherpa shortly before arriving back at the aid at just shy of 21 miles the day was flying by. With a jello shot at the aid followed by another whiskey shot with Robbie Pike, my running partner for the day decided to get a ride back to the car. She had been huffing and puffing on some of hills so I can only imagine she was cooked and a bit tired but I wished she wold have gone for it.  Fun to run with new peeps as always though. I decided to pick up the pace a bit on the final leg back to the car. Just kept a steady effort and made it back in no time at all. About halfway back, I was so hot, I took off the jacket and balaclava and heavy gloves and rocked the t-shirt, thin gloves, and headband the final miles. Felt great throughout. Never gassed, never exhausted. Nice to go slow up front. Only energy product I took was some GU Chomps about 4 mi to the end. I probably didn't need them but the little bit of sugar was a nice boost for the final few miles. Kind of a blurry pic but this ridge was picturesque,

After a yummy Milk Stout on Nitro at the car and some dry clothes, I chowed down on tons of food and made quick work of the drive back. I didn't encounter bad roads until coming down into Castle Rock where they got progressively worse by monument. I went from doing 85 MPH south of Denver to stopped for a while. Eventually, I made it home and all was good. All in all, A successful day with a full 31 miles and 4,500K of gain. With all the snow today, I probably won't run tomorrow so the week will be wrapped up at 60 miles. Great to peak the mileage here before the Salida Run Through Time Marathon in 3 weeks. Normally, my mileage would be higher but biking time naturally takes away from that and that is ok. Next week, I will be looking for a faster long run and then an easy week prior to the marathon. Getting excited hoping to break the 4:00 mark this year with a goal of 3:45. Seems like the fitness is right on point for Leadman at this point if I can stay consistent. Thanks Sherpa John for another successful event.

Until next time...

See you at the top!

Early morning run and afternoon spin

Got in an early morning 8 mile run on the flat rock island trail this morning with Baz. Kept the pace a bit slower than norm just trying to shake out the legs and keep em fresh for tomorrow. Also had a couple of speed bouts earlier in the week so without measuring, I would say I was 5-10 BPM below MAF this morning and not breathing hard. Got to seen the sunshine and a beautiful Pikes Peak. Came back and enjoyed breakfast with the fam. Was hoping for an outside ride but the wife had other obligations. After putting my son down for a nap, I packed my stuff for the fatass tomorrow and then hopped on the spinner for an easy hour spin while I finished up some reading. Gotta love air play and being able to read on the big screen. Once done reading, I turned on the vid of the leadville course and watched a portion of the Columbine climb. Hopefully, the snow will make tomorrow fun but still allow me safe passage on the drive to and fro. Here is a selfie of me and the kiddo. He woke up so I let him cool down with me.

Icy Incline followed by a bike up Rampart Range Road minus clipless shoes

Got a somewhat early start this morning as I headed out of the door around 6:15 for the incline. I could tell Baz was mad at me because he knew what I was up to but I wanted to get some good quality climbing in on the bike afterward so naturally he wasn't invited. After a brisk walk warmup, I began to jog once I hit Ruxton up to the incline. Thinking I wanted right at around 30 minutes I took off jogging the first several steps surprised at the amount of lingering snow from earlier in the week. Anyhow, Just kept pushing hard but not too hard. I realized after the false summit that I had a chance at a PR but still wasn't too interested. Just kept a solid effort. Near the top, I was still in range for a small PR so I ran the last 100 steps slipping up the ice to get a pr by about 7 seconds. Came in at 28:10 first to last step. Took the jog down barr easy as it was immediately icy even in the new connector. I sped up where I could and probably average just below 8 min pace on the decent. Once back to Ruxton, I decided to open it up a bit and was cruising in the low 6's all the way down. Apparently got a PR down that too. Once I got to Manitou Blvd, I jogged it in until I walked the last quarter mile or so. Ended up being 1:19 round trip and still feeling plenty spry enough for a bike ride.

Pulled the bike out of the car and put on the front wheel and seat to discover I had forgotten my clip in shoes. I wasn't about to drive all of the way home and back just for shoes and I needed to ride and not have excuses. Running shoes on the tiny pedals it was. Cruised down el Paso and up toward balanced rock. I headed up Rampart Range Road to get some good ells with no real plan other than to ride for 1:15 to 1:30 and then turn around and ride back. Luckily, a city truck was heading up to check things out because he made some sections much less of a nuisance in the lingering crusty snow. After several miles up, he had stopped around the water tower and I tried to go further and it was too difficult so I booked it down. Not wanting too short a day, I hung a left up towards the garden. Up, Up, Up I went and into the main loop. Made the mistake of thinking the trails would be in ok enough condition to ride and got so much mud stuck on the bike, I had to walk it back to the road. All the way back up and around the loop and back to the car, I was slinging mud and slipping off the pedals but a great ride overall. Right at an hour in time and 20 miles with 2.5k gain. Solid day overall.

Not sure what is in store for tomorrow. Supposed to run a 50k fatass on Sat in FOCO but I am tossing around doing a long run tomorrow in the nice weather and bailing sat. If I stick with the plan, I would like to get a couple hours on a bike (maybe road or trainer) and a 4-6 mile run around the hood. Either way, I will be groovy for time in the week.

Until next time,

See you at the top.

Chilly Bike home and A progressive 8 mile run

Started this morning with one of those oh crap moments. Last night when I rode in it was 18 deg. It was supposed to start in the low 20s this morning and then move up into the mid 30s by the time my ride was done only... the weather forecast said it was 13 degrees... Holy crap... Can I ride in that? As Larry DeWitt said in his 2009 blog, Leadman is extreme and calls for extreme training. I was offered a ride home and respectfully declined. It actually wasn't so bad when I got out there. I dropped the extra shell I wore the night before for the long climb home. 14.3 miles later and 900 feet of gain and I was safe at home as I noticed the thermometer at the bank by my house read 28 degrees. Yes my toes were numb even in my new "winter" shoes that I just got but not as numb as they would have been without. Was a good ride and I didn't really put too much effort into it. I took the detour again with the extra hill the last few miles up Garrett to Meridian so that gave me a bonus climb. After a soak in the hot tub and a nap I was quite groggy. It was hard to convince myself I to go run. I begrudgingly laced up the ol Pure Grit 2's with over 600 miles on them now and headed out the door with Baz for anything between 4-8 miles thinking it would be on the lower end. After a slower walking warmup half mile than usual and a slow first couple of miles, I began to wake up. My pace quickly moved down to the lower 8's as i moved the next few miles through a small climb. The final few miles of the run, I decided to kick it a little more even. Without breathing all too hard, I was hitting low sevens the last few until my cooldown back to the house. All in all a great 8 miles and although I didn't feel like getting out, sometimes you just have to go. Today those final few miles were faster than any mile on my "tempo" a couple days ago granted it wasn't snowing and was a few degrees warmer today. Either way a successful day. I have the incline planned for the morning followed by hopefully a decent bike ride climbing up rampart range road for some solid Ells. For now I sit here drinking my third beer after none for a couple of days. I am finishing the stash of Crazy Mountain Brews that my bro in law brought in town with him. Started with the pale ale, moved to the amber, and now enjoying the Boohai Red. Might have the stout before sleep overtakes me. I dunno.
Until next time...

See you at the top!

Relaxed inside and then rode to work

Yesterday I said all I would to is ride into work today and that's exactly what I did. On the cold drive home this morning, I secretly wished I could have time to squeeze in an 8 mile run or really anything in the morning. With the wife having an appt and having to leave at 10 and me taking the kiddo grocery shopping, there just wasn't time. That's ok because I will be getting in plenty of hours late week. I woke up this evening and the weather said 18 degrees. Perfect. Time to test out the new winter shoes. Had a cold ride into work but it wasn't too windy. The wind was probably 5 mph out of the south which was enough to slow me down by about 5 minutes off of normal but the balaclava and mountaineering gloves were key to staying warm. I kept the balaclava up over my nose. The MP3 player has finally quit working all together so just a quiet cold ride in to work tonight. Finally, here is a pic from yesterday's post run. First Ice beard for me ever...

Snow Run Starting to push pace

Did a quick 6 around the neighborhood this morning with the pup after getting off of work with a fresh breakfast and coffee sloshing around in my belly. Decided to push the pace a bit to build a little speed for Salida. Have been doing so much MAF aerobic system work that I think I kind of lost my Fast twitch fibers. Last year at this time I remember doing a 10 miler with 7 min flat splits. Not the case today. I think I averaged about 7:30 the first 4.5 miles and then my quads felt like rocks. I decided to take it easy coming in to finish. Got my speed work but do not want to get injured. I did feel the quads a bit last night on the rollers before work so they were probably not fully recovered from that either. Either way, a soak in the hot tub was nice after. Probably will only be another 1 workout day tomorrow. Planning to just ride into work at night if the weather permits. Otherwise I will be doomed to another hour of hot indoor boring riding shredding rubber onto the hardwood floors. Probably will do a couple of other tempo and interval efforts over the next few weeks to build speed back up. It was snowing pretty good and I was running in about ankle deep powder and slipping a bit. Got a picture of my first Ice Beard ever but forgot to get it from the wife. I will try and post in the next couple of days.

Summary of Training Week Feb 9-15

Weekly Totals:

Miles Run: 49.4
Hours Run: 9:03
Running Elevation Gain: 6,250'

Miles Biked: 97.9
Hours Biked: 6:27
Biking Elevation Gain: 4,596
Total Power: 4899 kJ

Total Training Time: 15:31
Total Elevation Gain: 10,846'

Summary: I tried something different this week with the blog. I posted individual postings on each day and changed those to not list so many details because I was really just transcribing them from Strava. This makes it not so much of a book at the end of the week that no one probably really reads anyhow haha. Basically, what I am saying is if you want to know more specifics, follow me on Strava, Garmin, or MapMyRun. Otherwise, the blog will now just contain details that are the good parts and on top of the daily, I will post the weekly on Sunday nights for a summary like this. Anyhow, on to this week. I ended up with 15.5 hours on the week which is pretty good. I actually had 14.5 planned but I squeezed in an extra ride on the rollers tonight for an hour. Part of the extra time actually came from doing the incline with the fam vs. solo. I would have round tripped it from Manitou in about an hour and fifteen but carrying a kid in a pack took a while longer. Still broke a good sweat though so it was good for something. All in all, I got 2 long runs this week. One flat and faster 18 miler and one 3,600' gain 17 miler 2 days later with a 2 hour MTB ride the day in between. Baz tagged along on both long runs like a champ which shows me he is getting stronger too. Towards the end of both he was starting to drag but did much better than I thought he would. Last year, we got to a point where I got in better shape than him and since he was slow I quit taking my best training partner. It is much better when he can keep up and enjoy the fun too.

I might be cutting the volume slightly. By slightly I mean no more 3 a days. If I ride twice for a commute, I won't run etc. While I'm still on nights through March, this might mean commuting every other day so I get one ride and one run or something but riding is really more subject to weather during the winter. Gotta get it while you can or else ride through it. Once I go back to day shift, it will mean either commute or run but probably not both. The issue is not down to my capability or willingness but down to family time and ensuring I'm not too selfish with my workouts. I want to do good at leadman but not at the cost of my family as much as possible. This will shave a couple hours a week off my plan but should make things more balanced. Since I'm not trimming the long runs or rides, it shouldn't effect the overall result as much and in fact could actually provide better results for all I know. One thing I might do as well is consider alternating some weeks between long bike efforts and long runs but every good Leadman knows the money is in the run. Extra training shaves minutes off the bike times or hours off of the run time. Looking at the rest of the month, I have two more good hard weeks planned before a rest week the first week of March and then the Salida Marathon the week after that which is a month from yesterday. This coming week will be the key week for the Marathon and my long run is the 50k Headless Horsetooth Fatass on Sat in FOCO. This week I will also probably begin to do a little bit of speed work on a couple of runs to get that leg speed up.

Rollin Spinners

After a rough night last night at work, I went straight to bed this morning. Being it was my first night in, I was supposed to take a nap yesterday but didn't end up having time. After about nine solid hours of sleep, the wife and kiddo woke me up out of a deep sleep so we could have some family time. Being that it was snowing, I really wasn't thinking a commute would be the best thing so I hopped on the rollers for an hour at a solid medium effort. Was able to crank out 15 miles which is good for the rollers that stop when you stop pedaling. Maintained about 80 RPM throughout. If the roads don't clear up tomorrow, I may miss another day of commuting but hoping to get a run in tomorrow to kick off the new week right.

No Valentines Love for Dogs at Cheyenne Mountain State Park and Incline

Sat 14 Feb (Valentines): Had the alarm set to run with CRUD today at 5:30 at Cheyenne Mountain State Park. The wife woke me up just after 6 wondering why I wasn't up yet. I was supposed to be gone already. Grabbed the running clothes, the dog and the leash and headed out the door in my brand new Altra Superior 2.0's that felt like I was walking on air after the 500 miles on my Lone Peaks. After grabbing gas station coffee and b-fast, I sped down there to get there just in time for the 7 AM run. Only problem is that that park doesn't allow dogs as I had learned. I was thinking of chancing going anyhow but Rick said they are sticklers down there. My 3 goals for the day were community, mileage and gain. With goal one out the window, I was now looking for something with mileage and something to up my verts for the week. Thinking I would do the Incline Club route Intemann to section 16 because I knew the distance, gain, and rough time it would take me, I was in the mood for some exploring so I ended up parking at the bottom of Cheyenne Canyon instead. Started on the lower Columbine trail where it was slick ice and transitioned accross the road to Middle Columbine. I can't believe I had never ran these lower trails here. It was a bit loose for a bike but running was ok. The grade was steep but I just kept the feet chopping and kept running. Should have probably taken the cut up to Gold Camp but instead stayed on columbine that dumped me out on the road near Helen Hunt Falls. Ran the road up to the Trail head and headed west thinking I would go up Buckhorn and down Capt Jacks and the Chutes. This started to seem a bit shorter than I had time for so I quickly split off Buckhorn and followed the creek up I think trail 666. It kept going up and around Kineo Mountain and I was hoping it would connect with some upper trails to get me back to Buckhorn but was ready to turn around at any point. From the top of the pass, I was glad for a trench because it was knee deep there. I dropped down on the N. side of Kineo and found my way back to Buckhorn and down Capt Jacks and the Chutes and back up to the car for a nice 17 miles on the day with 3,600' gain. Later on I went back for the Incline with the wife and friends and fam carrying the kiddo. Was an easy effort but I got another 4 miles and 2K of gain. Not a bad 22 mile day with 5,600' gain. Hoping for any workout tomorrow but we have to farewell to the bro in law after I get off work in the morning and it is supposed to be snowing at night so we shall see. I have to sleep for at least 8 hours in there too somewhere.

MTB around the west side

Fri 13 Feb:Was going in for a run today with the bro in law but realized the bike miles were a bit lacking and I could run with CRUD tomorrow morning. Rode the MTB out from the inlaws through Ute Valley. Came out down by I-25 between Rockrimmon and Garden of the Gods. The plan was to make it to Rampart Range Road and up a bit on this 2 hour ride before heading back but the ride up Garden of the Gods Avenue and getting into the Garden took a while. I decided to hit up the MTB trails on the SE side of the park. After a lap there, I looped the garden and headed down the backside to balanced rock. I was going to ride down from there to the Midland trail and back down to Sante Fe and back up to Woodmen and back up through the neighborhood but once I saw Ridge Road, I had to ascend back up into the Garden. hit up another set of MTB trails there and rode back up 30th to Centennial and back up the steep hill into Ute Valley and finished out a lap there and back up to the house. 24 Miles in just under 2 hours with over 2K of gain. Solid day out in the sun with no nutrition but water. Oh. Got an interesting proposition to write for an adventure Magazine so this could be exciting. Not sure if it will be about climbing, biking, or running at this point. Maybe all of them...

18 miles flat dirt tempo run DOG ATTACK

Thurs 12 Feb: Thought about waking up early and hitting the rollers and did get up very early but hit the computer instead after a hard discussion with the wife last night and her not liking 3 a days and wanting more family time. My goal was to see what mid week activities I could cut and maintain my long efforts. End result was I worked it out so there are no more 3 a days and 2 a days are limited. The key will be not biking to work every day but only every other day for the new plan since it is really the long efforts that matter most. Who knows since my volumes were kind of arbitrarily fixed anyhow. Maybe the new numbers are better for my performance. I am still shooting over the 12 hr per week number that Maffetone lays down. Found myself with a few hours to kill and some miles to catch up on so I decided to run to Peyton and back on the Rock Island trail that runs up the old railroad bed up 24 in a very straight line. Had a no carb breakfast before the run. I was taking the dog so I didn't have high hopes on pace. After warming up and still carrying 48 oz of water to share with the pup, I quickly found it comfortable to hold an 8 min pace. Was sure I could hold it the whole way and felt at about MAF so I went for it wondering how long the pup would hold out. Was hitting just seconds under 8 on every mile into Peyton and then same on the way out. The dog was off leash cause there was no one else out there. WEll... cept for one lady with 3 dogs and a bike with 20' leashes. When we were approaching she got way off the trail. Since my dog doesn't chase other dogs off trail, I decided not to leash him up. Turns out, 3 dogs was too much for her and they pulled her until they got to the path where they attacked my dog. Luckily after being attacked over the years, he has learned to bite back. I was proud of him. Then she has the nerve to say "You should leash your dog." I yelled something not nice back at her and just kept moving. Kept the pace a few seconds faster per mile than the way out for most of the way and had to coax the dog more and more as he took more and more water. The last 2 miles he finally called the pace a quitz and we slowed a bit to cool down. Ended with 18.3 on the day for running and zero on the bike. Did the run in the Merrell Trail gloves with no pain or issues and had one bottle of GU endurance drink and one CLIF shot at the turnaround. Nice to see compared to when I first wore them a couple of years ago for a 2 mile run where I thought my calves would die. A hot tub soak later and I was feeling good as new. At night was mock Christmas with the family and had a few delicious beers and opened past due presents while we had home made egg nog and marinated flank steaks.

Testing new winter biking shoes and UVP running

Wed 11 Feb: Got 2 efforts in today. Took the opportunity to test the new winter shoes in below freezing conditions to the inlaws house on a route I was also wanting to test. It was cold but the shoes worked better than not having them I suppose. Later on got in an easy trail run with the bro in law and his GF in Ute valley. Haven't been there for several years since I used to bike there. Trails are pretty much as I remember them. Actually went down on the bike on some slushy snow on a bridge on the Santa Fe trail. Luckily, I was not moving fast and it was graceful. Got a massage today that I had a gift cert for. Was pleased as I had no issues with the back and just a tight calf on one leg. Not bad for never stretching I suppose. Wanted to get in another go on the rollers at night but sleep seemed nicer. 16 on the bike 3.5 on the run.

Easy day

Tues 10 Feb: Only 1 workout today. Just a bike ride home from work this morning. I was tired from work. Was a nice sunny day and another tee shirt ride. Started off kind of slow and then picked it up later on and made a good ride. Was going to hop onto the rollers later on but beer got in the way. 13.9 on the bike.

3 a day

Mon 9 Feb: 3 a day today. Biked home on a slightly new route, had a run, and biked back to work. Was feeling strong on the bike home and in fact rode faster than normal. The extra really only added a mile to the ride but the exploring of options was nice and traffic was less this way. Then felt like crap on the run. Ran with the family to the park for a play date and then went home alone to sleep. Perhaps the legs were just too trashed. Beautiful day. Ended up with 6.5 running and 29 on the bike.

Training Week Feb 2-8

Weekly Totals:

Miles Run: 51.5
Hours Run: 9:04
Running Elevation Gain: 8,970'

Miles Biked: 80.8
Hours Biked: 5:50
Biking Elevation Gain: 4,300'
Total Biking Power: 3971 kJ

Total Training Time: 14:55
Total Elevation Gain: 13,270'

Summary: Very happy with the week overall. It was a slow start as I still wasn't feeling 100% after my sickess last week and had some residual congestion all week. After getting so cold on my ride home wed and having my tail between my legs, I had a solid day thursday with an incline PR, 3 summits, and a couple of hours post mountain biking in the mud followed by a crap day friday and then a solid weekend to round out a solid week ending with 9K gain running. Plan was 15.5 hours but came up only slightly short at around 15 hours. Can't complain being that close after early week days taking it easier. Funny with 2 sports, I am back to 7 days streak now. Next week will be slightly less volume (maybe) before my 2 highest volume weeks of the season wrapping up a base building period mixed with some speed to start getting ready for Salida.

Mon 2 Feb: Didn't Commute in last night due to Priorities (Superbowl that I didn't care who won but wanted to see commercials). I also woke up feeling like my body was losing the fight to whatever sickness I was acquiring. Funny because I usually wake up feeling slightly better and not slightly worse. Today was highly opposite but I kept popping pills. Even started to lose my voice but I proudly claim that I never got fully sick. No foggy head, no stuffy nose or cough. Just a light sore throat for a couple days with swolen glands and then losing my voice. Anyhow, I felt much better after my night shift ironically and after getting home and having breakfast, I took the family for a 6 mile jaunt. Wife pulled the kiddo in the bike trailer and I ran. Was about 30 deg to start and upper 40s to finish just an hour later. I took it easy so as not to exacerbate the sickness. The idea is to get better and not worse. Sat in the hot tub before going to bed. After sleeping, I got up and rode into work for an unusual headwind on the way in. At slightly harder effort, I was a couple minutes slow. I wish wattage calculator calculated in wind because it just looks like I worked less hard.

Running Stats:

• Miles: 6
• Time: 57:26
• Pace: 9:39
• AVG HR: Tried but HRM just doesn't work anymore :( really need to cash in on that warranty.)
• Gain: 150'
• Weather: sunny and warming from 30 to upper 40s
• Route: paved trail through hood to stapleton and back.

Biking Stats:

• Bike: Cross
• Miles: 13.9
• Time: 44:54
• Avg Speed: 18.7
• Power: 190W (512 kJ)
• AVG HR: NA
• Gain: 184'

Tues 3 Feb: No running day. I know I know. I had lots of time off of running last week but this was this week's planned no running day. I rode home from work in the morning, took the wife out to birthday breakfast, went to bed and then rode back into work. The ride home in the morning, I actually tackled a new hill late in the ride. Only added .4 mi to the ride and another 100' or so but it made a difference. I have been eyeballing this climb on other days and decided to go for it. Was glad I did. Will take all the climbing I can get albeit the fact that the ride home is pretty much up hill the whole way. For the way back to work, I had a tiny bit of extra distance because I forgot my water bottle and had to go back and get it. Wouldn't have effected the ride but I would not have had water all night and commute home would have been rough. Looking at the weather forecast, tomorrow morning's wind looks scary for the ride home forecasted at 18 MPH headwind (N) and temps at around 30 before windchill. Was hoping my new winter shoes would arrive tonight but they did not. That wind mixed with that temp is right at about my ride/no ride decision but I decided to sack up. Brought the thick mountaineering gloves and some extra wool socks.

Biking Stats 1:

• Bike: Cross
• Miles: 14.3
• Time: 58:46
• Avg Speed: 14.6 MPH
• Power: 215W avg (757 kJ total)
• AVG HR: NA
• Gain: 910'

Biking Stats 2:

• Bike: Cross
• Miles: 14.2
• Time: 41:58
• Avg Speed: 20.3 MPH
• Power: 228W Avg (578 kJ)
• AVG HR: na
• Gain: 185'

Wed 4 Feb: So I was getting ready to leave work today for my ride home planning a big day with the commute home and the incline later on. Just as I was prepping to leave at work, they announced 40 MPH winds. Sometimes, they are over zealous with the announcements so I decided to make a go for it. While I got frozen toes in the very accurate announcement, I made like the tortoise and began to slowly tick off the miles wishing for my new warm shoes. Eventually, I realized I was going to be late home to take the dog to the vet and take over care of my child so my wife could run her errands by a long shot. My normal hour commute was going to take two hours. I eventually called the wife and asked her to come pick me up. It took a couple hours to get feeling back in all of my toes. The cold sort of took it out of me and I ended up napping and lounging the rest of the day and skipped the run potentially setting myself back later in the week. 2 days off out of 3 early in the week makes it hard to make quota but I just didn't feel like going back out in it. I will make it up tomorrow I thought.

Biking Stats:

• Bike: cross
• Miles: 7.5
• Time: 50:03
• Avg Speed: 9.0 MPH
• Power: 356 kJ on Strava but maybe double that with wind haha.
• AVG HR: na
• Gain: 451'

Thurs 5 Feb: Big day today. Gotta work hard eventually if you want to be a leadman. Yesterday as I rode in the cold, I recalled Larry DeWitt's blog about extreme races requiring extreme training as I froze in the wind. Today, I needed to get it done again. So the plan was to wake up early and knock out some miles while the fam was sleeping  and then maybe go get the incline or something later. I ended up not getting up early and had a headache from such a deep sleep for my first night off and on a normal schedule. After some coffee and my first advil (1 pill) in quite a while for the headache and a good solid breakfast, I began to feel much better and ready to train. After fighting sickness and the easy week, my legs were finally ready to perform. The wife and kiddo took off for some stuff mid morning. I loaded the bike onto the car and the running gear on my body and headed west towards Manitou. Ended up not only doing the incline but getting an incline PR as well as nabbing rocky mountain, Mt. Manitou, and even Red mountain on the way back for 2.5 solid hours of 4K of gain and some great PR's. After a quick 10 min break at the car eating some food and getting ready for a bike ride, I went out for another 2 hours on the bike to cover myself with mud as I hooted and hollered and wore myself out. I felt good but tired after the workout knowing I had to come immediately home and be alive for my wife's official birthday party.

Running Stats:

• Miles: 12
• Time: 2:33:33
• Pace: 12:48
• AVG HR: NA but probably 170s on incline and 150s during remainder.
• Gain: 4,237'
• Weather: Sunny and 50s maybe up to 60
• Route: Incline, Rocky, Manitou, and one person Red summit party.

Biking Stats:

• Bike: Bees Knees 650B Hard tail
• Miles: 16.8
• Time: 1:53:04
• Avg Speed: 8.9 MPH
• Power: 1190 kJ
• AVG HR: NA
• Gain: 2,386'

Fri 6 Feb: Big day causes poopy day. You got poop in your mouth Ron Burgandi. The plan once again was to get up early and get some miles. Wanted to get 2 runs in today to reclaim some lost miles. I woke up early but the legs were very dead and I hardly felt like a run. Waited until nap time and then went for a couple laps of section 16. At one point I was thinking If I could get 4 laps (16 mi) I would be in great shape. Time dwindled and I left the house planning on 2 laps. I started the run feeling like crap. The sandy wetness mixed with lots of mud and some ice mixed like that had me running slow and I had a headache and wasn't carrying water but I was determined to not give up. I figured after a few miles it would blow off and I would feel better. I ended up feeling about the same throughout the run. While I could have thrown in the towel at 4, I ran another seemingly trash 4 miles. The second 4 was not about getting physically stronger though. I was beat up from the day prior's events and the harder intensity mixed with taking an expectorant trying to clear some lung congestion. In hindsight, I was just very dehydrated as well as beaten down. While slow, today was a hard earned 8 miles. There were several times where I wasn't even climbing and thought I was at 8 min effort and was at like 10:30 pace. Crazy. It is nice to train to be able to continue on when you don't feel it when it comes to ultras. It is near impossible to run 100 miles and not have at least a minimal ill feeling.

Running Stats:

• Miles: 8
• Time: 1:19:02
• Pace: 9:52
• AVG HR: NA
• Gain: 519'
• Weather: Sunny but windy. Maybe upper 40s or low 50s.
• Route: 2 Clockwise laps of Black Forest section 16

Sat 7 Feb: Normally Saturday's would be my long run day and I could have gotten up early and made it happen but I was apprehensive after yesterday's sh*t show. After a solid breakfast and some coffee I had time to slip out for ten miles on the Rock Island trail by the house. We had the privilege of attending a wedding of one of my long time Friend's little sister whom I have known since she was just a little girl. The run felt good and I probably slightly exceeded MAF effort with a negative split. Ran the first half at 8:00 to 8:10 per mile and the second half at 7:45 to 7:55 per mile average. The pup had a hard time keeping up on this one but it felt good to run in the sun in winter with no shirt. I didn't realize I had a tail wind on the first half so this made my neg split a bit harder but felt great when I finished. What a difference between yesterday where I was probably dehydrated and a bit down from the longer and harder day the day prior with the incline PR.

Running Stats:

• Miles: 10.05
• Time: 1:26:05
• Pace: 8:34 (Includes warmup and cooldown walking half mile each way as always)
• AVG HR: NA. Maybe low to mid 160s
• Gain: 84'
• Weather: Sunny. Upper 50s. Slightly windy
• Route: Rock Island Trail to 5 mi tag by Elbert Highway and back.

Sun 8 Feb: Running on a mileage deficit for the week. Goal was 50 miles to bounce back to my baseline after the rest/recovery week last week and I am still short. Don't usually like running Sundays long because I don't get to see the fam but I felt it needed to be done albeit the fact I hadn't slept since the 10 miler the day prior. I woke up at 630ish yesterday morning and was up all day with no nap due to the wedding. I came home and went to work all night (drove so I could run after) and drove to Manitou in the Morning to join the incline club. At a nice medium effort maybe 160HR going up, I made great time today. Whoever said there is no ice up there is flat wrong. There was bad Ice on the last 1/4 mi of ruxton and sheer ice pretty much the entire way from No name to Barr. Despite that I had one of my top 3 ascent times to Barr and apparently my quickest descent which I was just trying to keep around 8 Min/Mi so I wasn't too pounded out to be able to run tomorrow and not hurt. I was piggy backing with Jesse on the way up. He passed me about halfway and I was only about a minute behind leaving barr (don't know how long he was there but I didn't hang out today) Connected the last mile into town with some Incline Club legends. Ran with Glen Ash, and Jack Ramsey the last mile. I think I talked too much because they were too good at asking questions but it was awesome to run with such solid men who have been doing this for so long (over 20 years for both of them). After I got to crash for about 7 hours, it was time to ride into work. Temp was mid 40s but I wore the new winter shoes and had toasty toes. Thought I was taking it easy recovery style and made it slightly faster than normal. Wierd. No tail wind either. Proly cause I didn't bike for a couple days I guess. Great ride!

Running Stats:

• Miles: 15.5
• Time: 2:48:50
• Pace: 10:54
• AVG HR: NA. Probably around 150. I wasn't high descending. Kept in low to mid 160s up.
• Gain: 3,989'
• Weather: 52 to start. 65 to finish
• Route: Mem park to barr camp via marathon route and then back. Took back streets through town.

Biking Stats:

• Bike: Cross
• Miles: 14
• Time: 41:39
• Avg Speed: 20.2 MPH
• Power: 578 KJ
• AVG HR: 125 maybe
• Gain: 185'

Training Week 26 Jan to 1 Feb: Easy Week

Weekly Totals:

Miles Run: 21.8
Hours Run: 5:09
Running Elevation Gain: 2,789'

Miles Biked: 63.3
Hours Biked: 4:17
Biking Elevation Gain: 2,087
Total Power: 2860 kJ

Total Training Time: 9:26
Total Elevation Gain: 4,876


Summary: Recovery is the name of the game this week. Was planned for next week actually but after feeling run down and on the verge of being sick, I decided to cool it a bit before something bad happens. Almost too late... I should have realized last week when I did the b2b ride on sat with no sleep and then the long run on sun. I also should have taken key on sore muscles early into the run when I was struggling on pure ice and just called it a day early vs. toughing it out. That was for sure the cause of the overtraining and the onset of sickness that I still slightly can feel but I think my body was successful at fighting it off. Was never full blown sick so to speak. Just tetered on the verge for a few days as I kept effort easy. Hoping for a big week next week if the body is ready for it. Hardest part will be riding in weather. Will have to be willing to substitute indoor spins in loss of bike commutes to work that makes up the base of my mileage. Next week will just take on this week's plan and then resume from there on schedule. Should be nice and ripe for Salida with a good base! Getting excited. Was going to post this last night with my monthly summary but I had hope that I would get something in today. Turns out I am sicker than I thought I would still be at this point.

Mon 26 Jan: Didn't have to bike home this morning because I didn't ride in last night. Thinking it was a mistake to do the long bike back to back with the long run with literally no sleep inbetween. I had no time for recovery. Anyhow, today was just a short easy family hike at Homestead ranch park carrying the kiddo in a pack and a bike ride in to work. Weather was soooo good, it was hard to resist. I actually stayed up until afternoon to do this vs. sleeping in the morning like normal.

Running Stats:

• Miles: 1.5
• Time: 37:06
• Pace: 24:52
• AVG HR: NA
• Gain: 183'
• Weather: 60
• Route: East loop at Homestead Ranch park.

Biking Stats:

• Bike: Cross
• Miles: 13.9
• Time: 41:38 min
• Avg Speed: 20 MPH
• Power: 221 AVG Watts (552 kJ)
• AVG HR: Na
• AVG Cadence: 75
• Gain: 181'

Tues 27 Jan: 3 workouts today. Commute Home. A run on another beautiful day and then a commute back to work. Pretty much all my waking hours not at work... The run was a family deal. Put the kiddo in the bike trailer and had wifey pull him while I slogged out 6. Stopped at the park to play around at mile 5 and got back on the road to finish and cool down. Legs still tired from b2b longs last w no rest and quads still sore. The commute home in the morning, I pushed a little harder than usual and got under 55 min which is good for that. Ride back in I was taking it easy. It ended up only being 1 min slower than the usual. haha.

Running Stats:

• Miles: 6
• Time: 56:14
• Pace: 9:21
• AVG HR: NA
• Gain: 148'
• Weather:60
• Route: Path through hood to stapleton and back.

Biking Stats 1:

• Bike: Cross
• Miles: 13.9
• Time: 54:55
• Avg Speed: 15.2 MPH
• Power: 229 W avg (753 kJ)
• AVG HR: NA
• AVG Cadence: 75
• Gain: 859'

Biking Stats 2:

• Bike: Cross
• Miles: 14
• Time: 44:01
• Avg Speed: 19.1 MPH
• Power: 203W avg (537 kJ)
• AVG HR: NA
• AVG Cadence: 72
• Gain: 186'

Wed 28 Jan: Ass kicker ride home this morning. Forecast did not call for that much wind. 24 MPH headwind with 33 MPH gusts was what it was when I took off. I was offered a ride home by coworkers but I said you don't get Big Buckles by not training when it is windy lol. I just kept my head down and rythm solid but a bit slow and stayed patient. Eventually I made it. Really started feeling slightly sick this day. Was supposed to get a run in the afternoon but skipped it due to scheduling conflicts as well as getting in rest. By the eve, I was popping drugs. Oregano oil, echinecia, axtaxanthin, vitamin C, garlic etc and the fermented lemon tea.

Biking Stats:

• Bike: Cross
• Miles: 13.9
• Time: 1:16:16
• Avg Speed: 11 MPH
• Power: Off due to wind... 668 kJ
• AVG HR: NA
• Gain: 868'

Thurs 29 Jan:  Was going to do 2 runs today to make up for lost run yesterday and just not bike at all. Felt good about it when I got up early and was running shortly after 6 AM in the dark with the headlamp and the pup. Wasn't using HRM cause that thing is sucking right now. After warmup, I was feeling good carrying a ~8 M/Mi pace comfortably and not pushing and then pushed slightly to maintain that on the uphill portion. Soon as I started downhill around mile 5, I got this sharp pain in both quads that I experienced Sun during most of my long run and then again on Tuesday at the end. Still not healed all the way. By mi 5.6, I decided to walk for half a mile and see where I was. After trying to jog a couple times and still hurting, I pretty much walked it in and realized my body needs rest. This is not time to push it. Sure I could have pushed through at 8 min pace or for sure even 7 flat but it wasn't going to help me at this point. Training is all about being smart. This was my smart call. Second smart call was to make this week my easy recovery week vice next week. Throughout the day, I began to get a sore throat and kept popping drugs every 4 hours and trying to squeeze in extra sleep where possible.

Running Stats:

• Miles: 8
• Time: 1:19:45
• Pace: 9:58
• AVG HR: NA
• Gain: 167'
• Weather: Cold. 12 MPH N Wind.
• Route: Rock Island to Stapleton, Up to path and back through hood.

Fri 30 Jan: Easy week and I'm doing the incline... What? Yep that's right. Recovery incline baby. Still gotta get some verts. Recovery doesn't mean nothing. I also went a lot slower than normal. AVG HR was probably below 120. It sure was a great time spent with my sister though. First time the two of us have gotten together in a while. After still feeling about the same sick though. Not full blown but can tell the body is fighting. Poppin tons o pills still. Also filled up the Hot tub Today after a year drained and decided I need it for recovery. Was nice to sit in it tonight and soak it up with extra hydration after of course.

Running Stats:

• Miles: 6.3
• Time: 2:16:06
• Pace: 21:32
• AVG HR: NA
• Gain: 2,30'
• Weather: 30s
• Route: Mem Park, Incline and return via Barr.

Sat 31 Jan: Having a pretty good streak here I have noticed. This is the 19th Day in a row with some sort of training. Since I have been sick, the workout this evening was not hard. I was originally just supposed to commute to work but the wet snow today caused slippy conditions and 21 deg tomorrow with 14 MPH headwind doesn't sound fun on a sore throat. I ended up doing a low effort spin on the spinner for 40 min watching a vid of the Leadville course as I rolled on the little chain ring. Was great to break a sweat. Also of note, I got a good 3 hour mid day nap in to prepare for work tonight.

Biking Stats:

• Bike: Cross
• Miles: 7.6
• Time: 40:42
• Avg Speed:
• Power: NA
• AVG HR: NA
• AVG Cadence: 74
• Gain: 0

Sun 25 Jan: Nada today. And on the seventh twentieth day he rested. All good streaks come to an end at some point. This may just be my longest. After getting my beauty rest this morning and then watching the Superbowl, I was planning to at least ride to work today. Unfortunately, I woke up sicker than when I went to sleep. Darn sore throat. Popped more pills and drove into work like a clown. I did order some winter biking shoes last night so that will be fun to finally have warm toes while I ride. I was going to get Neoprene booties but couldn't find something I liked and didn't want to spend $200 on winter shoes although I plan on being a lifetime Mustachian bike commuter. If I was a true Mustachian, I would have probably just put flat pedals and rocked the mountaineering boots but instead I found the consumer left inside me to get some winter shoes on sale for $90. Just twice what I was about to spend on booties that may have lasted through just this one winter. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow so I can resume training. If not, it may just be a couple of easy spins or short low effort runs until I am 100%. No need to kick myself while I am down as it won't make me better.