Leadman Again?

I think the mileage caught up with me this week. Each week this month I’ve been increasing the running mileage, and I think I’m to a point where it needs to plateau for a few weeks. Most of the week, I was stiff and sore during the runs (felt pretty good on the bike though). The highlight of the week was running with CRUD again. However running with CRUD means running steep, rocky, mountain trails instead of bike paths. Even though the pace is slower, it really wiped me out. But it was great to be back running in the mountains again. I’m up to 50 miles a week and I’ll try and maintain this through November and then try bumping it up to 60 in December. My plan was to find a spring marathon and go for sub 3.  However, today I ran into Dan Knight and Mark Gouge while riding in Red Rocks. They’ve got me pretty fired up about Leadman 2011. Roswitha wasn’t too thrilled about the idea…

Monday 10/25/10
AM Recovery Run .5 hrs, 3.2 miles, Strength Training
Tuesday 10/26/10
AM: Medium Distance Run, Santa Fe Trail 1.4 hrs 10.3 miles
PM: Mountain Bike Ride, Ute Park, 1.1hrs 9 miles
Wednesday 10/27/10
AM: Recovery Run w/Speed 0.9 hrs 6.2 miles, Strength Training
PM: Road Ride Garden of the Gods/Gold Camp 2 hrs 25 miles
Thursday 10/28/10
AM: Middle Distance Run, Santa Fe Trail 1.4 hrs 10.3 miles
Friday 10/29/10
AM: Easy recovery run, Rockrimmon/Delmonico Loop, 0.7 hrs 4.4 miles
Got up at 4:30 this morning, which is the normal time I run when I’m employed. Max got used to us getting up at 7 over the last month, so when the alarm went off he wouldn’t budge. So I ran alone while Max stayed home hugging his pillow.

Max Sound Asleep at 4:30

It's too early.  I'm not going!

PM: Mountain Bike Ride, Palmer Park, 2.3 hrs, 23 miles

Saturday 10/30/10
AM: CRUD Run, Red Rocks/Section 16/Crystal Park/Intemann Trail, 2.8 hrs, 13.1 miles
 Steve Bremner shot some nice pictures:
Sunday 10/31/10
AM: Easy Recovery Run, Hank’s Loop 0.5 hrs, 3.2 miles
MTB Ride, Ute Park, Garden of the Gods, Redrocks and back 3.2 hrs, 26 miles

Week Summary: Bike: 8.6 hrs, 82 miles. Run: 8.2 hrs, 50.8 miles

Dan & Mark Red Rocks

Jones Park & Week Summary

The weather this fall is been extraordinary. Normally we’ve had a couple snowstorms by now, but it has been dry, in the 70s & even 80s throughout September and October. With winter bound to hit, we decided to get one last ride in the high country today.  So Dan (the single speed stud of studs), Nick (Ultra rider extreme), Bruce (ProCycling owner),  Kevin (up and coming ultra rider), and I rode one of my local favorites, Jones Park.  It’s a 20+ mile single track descent from 10,000 feet elevation back into town. Getting there is a long gradual climb up Gold Camp Road, a dirt road closed to car & truck traffic. The climb is worth it though, cause the descent is epic. Today, I was running late so violated one of my principles and I DROVE to the trailhead. I’ve come up with a million excuses to justify it, like “I was running late” & “it’s off season”. But I still feel guilty, even after riding an extra hour or so with Kevin when everyone left. So today was another great epic ride, which capped off another great week.

 Kevin

 Nick

Dan the STUD

 Nick Lettin it all hang out

Bruce Rippin it!

 View from the Cockpit

 Dan Nice  and  Smooth

Bruce Focused and Flying!

So this week as planned I stepped up the running a bit and did a bit less riding. The morning runs have been stunning and I’m actually starting to feel like a runner again. All my runs up until Saturday felt fairly smooth. Unlike the first few weeks, in which I felt like a lethargic plodder. Running is starting to feel good again, and my IT band problem seems to be history.

Week Summary

Mon: AM: Easy 30 min run (3.2 miles) followed by strength training
Tues: AM: 1.2 hr run (9 miles) with some tempo and 8 * 15 sec strideouts. PM: Technical MTB Ride 1.5 hours (11 miles)
Wed: AM: Easy 30 min run (3.2 miles)followed by strength training. PM: Hilly 2 hour road ride (31 miles)
Thurs: AM: 1.4 hr run (10.4 miles)
Fri: AM: Easy 0.8 hr run (5.2 miles) followed by strength training
Sat: AM: Hilly 2.3 hr run (15 miles)
Sun: AM: Jones Park MTB ride (4.4 hrs, 4500 ft climbing, 31 miles)
Week Total: Run 6.7 hrs(46 miles) Bike 7.9 hrs (73 miles)

Trying to capture the Change of Seasons

One of the most wonderful things about running, riding, or just being outdoors is experiencing the sights and smells of the changing seasons. Just makes you glad to be alive. Throughout the week, on my morning runs, I’ve been amazed at the fall colors. All week I  forgot to bring my camera to capture these amazing sights. This morning I made a point to bring it but unfortunately Mother Nature didn’t cooperate. It was overcast off and on with a little rain for the first time in like two months. So I kind of wimped out and instead of running trails in the mountains stayed close to the neighborhood. It still turned out to be a great run and the pictures weren't bad either.

These guys were in the front yard just as we started our run

Max the Poser

The Neighborhood

Headin for the Hills

Caught this  guy eating breakfast

He didn't like getting his picture taken

Max Posing Again

Garden of the Gods

The West side of Town

Heading back home was a bit less cloudy

First Snow on the Peak

The colors of Fall

The Bears are Still Out & About

It’s been a very abnormal warm fall this year and we may have reached record temperatures this week. The fall foliage is hanging around much longer than I can remember and I’ve seen evidence that the bears haven’t went into hibernation yet. Most of bear evidence that Max and I saw were ram sacked trash cans in the morning and fresh scat on the trail. Yesterday morning we went by a couple destroyed trash cans and Max started barking and having a fit, which made believe that Mr. or Ms. Bear was still in the area. He did the same thing when we were running Tuesday morning. There were fresh wet bear tracks coming out of the creek and across the trail. Max came to an immediate stop, nose to the ground and starting barking at the bushes alongside the trail. My guess is that Mr. or Ms. Bear was very close. I thought the bears were normally hibernating by now and maybe the warm weather is keeping them up longer. My friend Grant told me they usually don’t go into hibernation until after Halloween. I guess that makes sense, a couple trick or treaters and their candy bags and a bear is set for the winter.

Max the Bear Hunter

My conversion back over to running for the winter is going well, although it is tough to stay off the bike. The weather has been great and as of last week I’m unemployed so I have weather and time to do both. I’ve been mulling over focusing on running through the winter with the intent of a sub 3 hour marathon in the spring. Getting back into running after a long time off is always hard. Right now I just don’t feel smooth or efficient and a sub 3 seems quite a stretch. But I know with time, patience, and persistence it will come. The hardest part is patience. So my plan is to build a base through the end of January. Right now I’m at about 30 miles a week, and will build to 60 by end of January with some tempo runs. Feb – mid April speed work then run a marathon in May. Haven’t picked one yet, but I owe a friend in La Cross, WS a visit and their just happens to be a marathon there on May 1st… I see a plan starting to formulate.

Today's Ride

 Kevin & Grant Downtown Colorado Springs

 Leaving My House after  dropping of Clothes

 Larry & Grant

 Kevin Blowing Snot

Nice Fall Colors

Grant

So I will call this the first week of training for a potential May Marathon:

Mon: AM - Easy 30 min run (3.2 miles) followed by strength training
Tues: AM - 1 hr run (7 miles) PM – 1.8 hr Road Ride (23 miles)
Wed: AM – Easy 30 min run (3.2 miles) followed by strength training. PM – Technical MTB Ride 2.8 hrs (26 miles)
Thurs: AM – 1 Hr run w/6 * 15 sec stride outs (7 miles)
Fri: AM – Strength Training. PM – Technical MTB Ride 1.5 hrs (12 miles)
Sat: AM – 2 Hr trail run (13 miles)
Sun: AM – 5.6 Hr road bike (84 miles) 5,680 ft of climbing.

Week Total: Run 4.9 hrs, 33 miles. Bike 11.7 hrs 145 miles



Summer Summary

It’s been a long time, last May since my last entry. So I’ve decided to kick this thing back up and see where it goes. Wow what a summer! It took pretty much all summer for my IT band to heal so I concentrated on biking. Other than a ton of epic long rides I guess a summary of the summer would be race results:

Breckenridge 100
• DawnTilDusk 12 Hour Mountain Bike Race: 1st Masters 50+
• 12 Hours of Mesa Verde Mountain Bike Race: 3rd Masters 50+
• Raced 3 of the 4 Sand Creek Series races, finishing 1st in 2 of them and not finishing the third due to a mechanical.
• Bicycle Tour of Colorado: A great week riding the roads of Colorado. Averaged about 80 miles a day, got together with and old friend and made new friends along the way. Perfect weather (except the for the wind) and just a wonderful week.
• Breckenridge 100: 1st Master 50+. Man what an epic race. This is one of the coolest and toughest 100 mile mountain bike races in the country. After racing the Leadville Trail 100 13 times, I can honestly say the Breckenridge 100 makes Leadville seem like a beginner’s race. An incredible race with incredible trails.
• The Falcon 100: 4th Masters 40+
• 24 Hours of Colorado Springs: 2nd Overall Solo. A great way to finish out the season. This was an incredibly fun race and very well organized for a first year event. I pushed a little bit too hard and didn’t hydrate enough though. I was taken away in an ambulance after the race was over and got to re-hydrate with 4 liters of IVs!

So the season is over, fall is upon us and the days are getting cooler and shorter. My IT band is healed now so I’m starting to concentrate on running. No concrete plans right now but I’m thinking of doing a spring marathon with the intent of breaking 3 hours. It will be nice to start running with CRUD again. I’m looking forward to the winter and the early morning runs in fresh snow, but right now I’m really enjoying the fall colors. Hope you had an incredible summer.

 The 3 Amigos Monarch Crest