A Good Hard Week

Pikes Peak from Rampart Range

I said this in my Leadman blog and I’ll say it again. Colorado Springs is an awesome place to run and ride.

I took a break Monday after all the riding, running, and moving over the weekend. Boy did I feel great on Tuesday. Before work a spectacularly bright moon lit the way for almost a perfect interval run on Santa Fe Trail. Ran 12 miles to include five 1 mile intervals with 1/2 mile recovery jog between each one. Energy level was high all day at work then rode home in the evening feeling great. While riding home I was feeling good so I did 40 minutes tempo to add some intensity. Great day!

Wednesday; another recovery day with an easy ride to work, then an easy run with Max in the evening. As the temps start warming, I’m only going to be able to take Max on the shorter runs. He was looking for snow to eat and lay in toward the end of this afternoon’s run.

Thursday a hard day starting with the CRUD Hill Climb. This is a 4.2 mile climb that gains 1,480 ft of elevation. I started hard thinking I could get this year’s best time. Big mistake. You’d think after all these years of running and riding, I’d learn. You don’t start a hill climb hard! By about ½ way, my goal went from getting a best time to not walking. Still had my second best time though. In the evening, while riding home from work, felt good so added a few hill climbs. A loop around Garden of the Gods, doing all hills in the biggest gear I could turn, then up Flying W doing the same. Good strength workout.

Friday was another recovery day with just an easy ride to work.

Saturday, another epic CRUD run. Can’t describe how fun this was. A 21 mile trail run with over 4,600 feet of climbing. We reached altitudes above 9,000 feet. There is still quite a bit of ice and snow above 8,000 ft, which made sections of the trails quite treacherous. Views were astounding. Here’s a slide show,(click to bring up full screen) but pictures will never come close to doing these runs justice.

Sunday ended up being a hard miserable (in a good way) day in the saddle. I wanted to ride with a group to start getting in some intensity. I don’t think today was a good day for that. The plan was to meet at Kervin’s house (north of the AFA) and ride a hard three hour loop to Larksburg and back. I rode to Kervin’s, hooked up with Mark G, Dan D, and Beth G. Right from the beginning I was having a hard time keeping up. My legs had no strength or speed, and my body didn’t seem to have much energy. Did I not eat enough after yesterday’s run? To make a long story short, in less than an hour I got dropped. Everyone re-grouped now and then and I caught back on, but when the pace picked up, I was spit out the back like nobody’s business. Going back was against a stiff wind. Even with everyone shielding me from the wind I still couldn’t keep up on the hills. Finally, I told them to go and rode the rest of the way home alone. It was a long miserable ride, about 30 miles against the wind on roller coaster like hills. A couple times I debated calling Roswitha to come get me. But part of training for ultra-endurance events is learning to suffer. I just told myself that it’s rides like these that build character and kept pedaling.

Not sure, but I think alcohol was involved here

Mon: Rest
Tues: AM: Run (5 * 1 mile intervals) 1.7 hrs. PM: Bike (Ride home w/42 min Tempo) 1.9 hrs
Wed: AM: Bike (Ride Work) 1.1 hrs. PM: Run (Trail Run Ute Park) 0.9 hrs
Thurs: AM: Run (CRUD Hill Climb + Columbine) 1.7 hrs PM: Bike (Ride Home w/Big Gear Climbing) 2.1 hrs
Fri: AM: Bike (Ride Work) 1.1 hrs
SAT: AM: Run (CRUD Long Run) 3.9 hrs
SUN: AM Bike (Road Ride) 5.6 hrs