Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Denver Marathon

I ran the Denver Marathon on October 9, 2011. This was my 7th marathon, I ran it in 3:37:02.

Here's a link to the results,


Here's a link to the results for our group on this Marathon Sunday.




Monday, August 29, 2011

Colorado Relay - August 26,27 2011

I ran in the Colorado Relay August 26 - 27, 2011.

The Pickled Prostates came in 2nd Overall, wining the Masters Division for the 6th time in 7 years.

We were beaten by the Young Guns again, but we were a bit closer this year.

It was an interesting and fun race. I ended up running 2 downhill segments, as we mixed up the team order, which was legal this year to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses. I did 18 miles total, including down Vail Pass and Berneo Pass

My third leg was short (3.6 miles) , but the most interesting, with a car fire on the course in Glennwood Springs, lost runners but not me! and passing the Weed Wackers while they were lost and holding them off to the end.

Here's a link to the blog post I made on the Pickled Prostates site with the team details and some pictures.


That's my 9th relay. They are so much fun, nice to have them a month apart this year, that helped to mix up the training and recover between.



2011 Pickled Prostates at Snowmass Finish
Andre, Patrick, Jeff, Mike, Pete, Tim, Scott, Dennis, Craig and Bob

Monday, July 25, 2011

EPIC Rocky Mountain Relay

I ran the EPIC Rocky Mountain Relay July 22-23rd with team Anadarko Petroleum

It took us 30 Hours 26 Minutes to finish, by far the longest relay time wise I've every done. 193 Miles but about half was in a hot sun and heat.

We finished 15th overall out of 50 teams.

It was a fun group and race, but the temperature was brutal, saw a lot of teams melting on the course including ours. The race went from Colorado Springs to Crested Butte via Cottonwood Pass, 193 miles with a 12 person team. We started at 11 am, should have started earlier, but we would have hit the heat both days anyway.

It's my 8th relay, but a unique experience running on a team to just finish the race.

My first leg started in Canon City at 4:30pm on Friday, with a 1000 feet of elevation gain from miles 3 - 6 then 1.5 downhill. Winding up and down a canyon road. Would have been a cool run on dirt road but it was 100 degress with no clouds or shade all the way up to the top.




Finishing Leg 7 in the Canyon, after the clouds moved in and it cooled down to 99 for the downhill finish.




Van 2 at the Top of Cottonwood Pass, Runners 7-12
Bob, Dennis, Glis, Jay (Captain), Lonnie, Viennie


Team Anadarko at the Crested Butte Finish. 30 Hours 26 Minutes, 15th overall.
Lonnie, Beth, Gliceria, Scott, Raleen, Bob, Jay, Elizabeth, Viennie, Dennis,Brandon, Mike

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Moab Half Marathon

I did not have good results from my 10 week Half Marathon Training experience. I ran terribly, probably worst non-injury race I've ever run. I did 1:41:26. I'm not sure what happened. I trained well and hard, hit all my workouts except for a couple of speed workouts due to the weather, had a long 9 day taper and went into the race rested.

I started out at a 7:20 pace, my plan was to start easy and build up to a 7:00 pace and finish strong. Complete opposite. There was a stiff head wind at the start and throughout most of the race. It was overcast but the temperature was in the 50's so it was nice running once you got going except for the wind.

I ran the first 2 miles around 7:20 and ran with Jeff for the first 2 miles, He was drafting a lot so I fell behind him and then at about 2 1/2 he pulled away. I was fading already and my legs were pretty much dead, like I had not tapered. I was really hungry and felt weak. My spirit was broken. I trudged through the miles and tried to relax and just enjoy the canyon and the event, but I was so aggravated that I was racing so poorly, turning more into a training run as each mile passed. I walked through the stations at 4 and 8 to take a Gu and hydrate with water and gatorade, which helped a little. At the 10 mile water station, Tom caught up to me and we ran together through about 12 where he finished strong and I continued the fade. He ended up 2nd in his age group and finished about 30 seconds ahead of me.

Everyone else did pretty well, a bit slower thanks to the wind but I really tanked it, bad.



It was a fun trip otherwise, I felt sick for the afternoon but made the post race party at Craigs cabin with a healthy appetite.

I need to back off running a bit and focus on looking for a job. I need some time to reflect about what might have went wrong or maybe it was just a bad day with a lot of factors involved. I think I got too far out of shape before I started training for this and did not have the base to support a 10 week schedule for a decent half marathon performance.

Zach did well this weekend though. At least someone in the family was running strong. He won the 3200 at the Aurora City Meet with a time of 10:52. A PR by 8 seconds. Great Job Zach, I am so proud of you.



Zach and Dan moving through the field in the 3200 at the Aurora City Meet.
They finished 1, 2 with a sprint finish for Dan. Charlie finished 5th.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Moab Training - Last Week

My 10 Week training program is at an end. All that is left to do is taper for an easy week and hit the race rested and reap the rewards for the last 10 weeks right? We shall see.

Monday - Ran 4 Miles from home with the dogs, easy run.

Tuesday - 4X400 Ran 400's at SHHS track after lunch. Ran them hard but full recovery took a second off each 400. 87,86,85,84. Did a mile and a half warm up and a mile and a half cool down including 1 mile with the dogs.
5 Miles with 1 speed.

Wednesday - Rest

Thursday - 4 Easy. Ran 1.75 with the dogs really easy, around the schools and fields. Then ran 7:30 pace for 2.25 up and down Crestline.

Friday - Travel to Moab

Saturday - Moab Half Marathon

Friday, March 11, 2011

Moab Training Week 10

Final Week of Moab Training. Starts off very cold on Monday/Tuesday

Monday - Wash Park 7 Miles. Ran the wash park route at lunch with Andre and Tom. It was really code, in the 20's but humid, so it felt colder. Good Recovery run

Tuesday - Took a rest day. It was cold/snow. I had some stuff going on with work and decided to skip the workout. Was scheduled to do 10X800. I want to to a 9.5 mile tempo run on Thursday so I should be fresh for it.

Wednesday - Cross Train. I skipped Yoga and stretched, rowed and rode the bike instead.

Thursday - Wash Park 9.5 Mile tempo run. I left early, just me about 11:45 hoping to go around wash park and maybe run back with the group the last couple of miles. As it turns out everyone did something different today and I saw Matt coming back around the country club, Pete and Tom on the east side of wash park followed by Craig C. Then when I got to Alameda I saw Pete and Alicia coming out, so I ran about a half mile easy with Alicia down to Speer and then Pete and I got back to my pace which was around 7:30 to Colfax. I picked it up a notch and caught Craig C about 2 blocks from the Y. I was feeling good the last 3 1/2 miles from Speer on in. Gave me some confidence for the half next week after last Sunday's long run. Really nice day, sunny and in the 60's.
I ran it in 1:13 with a couple easy 1/2 miles tossed in. My Garmin could not synch to the satellites for the first half mile.

Friday - City Park Duck Pond. Ran the 5 mile duck pond route with Pete, Andre went long and Bob did two mile high loops. I was a bit sore from yesterday, so good recovery pace. 5 Miles 41 minutes. Last day of work. Might not be running downtown for a while.

Saturday - Rest

Sunday - 5 Miles Out and Back to CC Park, some up tempo, strong finish. Meant to go harder but eased back. 41 Minutes

Weekly Summary - 4 Days, 26.5 Miles 1 medium distance Tempo Run.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Moab Training Week 9

Week 9 of Training begins with good weather and a hint of spring in the air... Came off a good week last week, can I make it two in a row?

Monday - Wash Park 7 Miles. 60 Degrees, nice day. Good recovery run from yesterday. Was not sore like I thought I might be, picked up the pace coming back with Andre and Tom. Last mile was a good clip. 7 Miles 55 Minutes

Tuesday Track 9X800 Intervals. Nice Day 60's with sun, no wind. Spring Track season is here. I did 8X800 on the track and then a 1/2 mile interval on the last half mile back to the Y. I felt better than last week. All but one interval was 3:00 or under, I lost focus on number 7 and ran a 3:06. Average was just under 3:00. So a good workout. Joined at the track by Chris, Craig C, Dave. Jeff and Bob did the mile high tempo loop.
8 Miles with 4.5 at speed.

Wednesday Yoga. Good,tough class sore from the track, left hamstring really tight.

Thursday Middle 3 Tempo
Ran the Middle 3 in 18:48. Huge improvement over last week and best this year by over 30 seconds. Starting to feel the training kick in. 4 traffic stops helped a lot. Pete ran the middle 2 and pushed me up the hill for the first mile around 6:20.

Friday 7.5 Easy
Ran from home today, since I worked at home due to a doctors appointment. I did a loop through CC Park at the same time as the group run. Just me though. Ran easy, similar route to the long run but cut in half turned right instead of left at the first bathroom. Ran 7.5 at an easy pace.

Saturday Rest

Sunday 15 Long Run
Ran the same long run as the previous week. Solo this time. Much slower without Bob and Matt to pull me along. Also my heart wasn't into it, I went to a Creyton's birthday the night before and celebrated a bit both diet and beverages. I felt so sluggish. I almost cut it short to 7 miles but decided to grind it out for the 15 regardless of the pace. I ran it in 2:15:53. 12 minutes slower for the same route, about 50 seconds per mile on average.

Weekly totals 44.5 Miles with 2 speed workouts and a 15 Mile long run

Monday, February 21, 2011

Moab Training Week 8

Wow, week 8 already. Time does fly. Less than 4 weeks to go. I really need to push these next 3 weeks. 44 Miles planned for this week.

Monday - Wash Park 7 mile run with Andre and Craig C. Small group due to the presidential day holiday. Ran slow and easy, took almost an hour for the 7 mile out and back to Wash Park. Good recovery run from yesterdays "tempo" run. Weighed in at 156 today at the Y, dropped a couple of pounds which is a good sign. A pound a week till Moab would be ideal.

Tuesday - EHS Track Intervals - 8x800.
Nice day in the 50's. Ran to the track. Good group Tom, Craig, Jeff, Dave, Pete C. Most of them did 4 800's and left. Nice day, sunny, in the 50's only a slight breeze. I felt good, rested. Some left heel pain and some left calf tightness on the last couple. I ran pretty smooth, tried to relax. Goal was 3 minutes. I did 4 over and 4 under goal. My last one was the fasted 2:57. #7 Was the slowest 3:05. (304,300,259,300,304,303,305,257). Ran back solo, easy.

8 Miles with 4 Miles of Speed work


Wednesday Rest/Yoga - 6 consecutive running days, needed a rest day for sure. Tough Yoga class, sore muscles from the track.

Thursday - Middle 3 - Ran the 7 Mile Middle 3 Tempo run. Did the middle 3 in 19:33. Disappointed in that it was slower than last week and my goal was sub-19 by the end of February. I was the only middle 3 runner today. Pete C did the middle 2 and hung with me the first mile which was around 6:35. No traffic stops on the way out and some soreness from the track workout on Tuesday. That's why we train I guess. Matt, Craig M and Jeff went around wash park and ran back with us. Craig C and Dave went around the park slower. Alicia ran with us to the start and then did an interval workout.

Friday - 7 Miles Golf Course Recovery Run.
Ran the 7 Mile Golf Course run with Andre and Bob. Cold with some snow in the morning, but only wet by lunch. Good recovery run. Felt good

Saturday Rest Day

Sunday - 15 Mile Long Run
Ran a 15 Mile Cherry Creek Park Loop with Matt and Bob, who met at my house in the morning. We left about 10. Cloudy day but temperatures in the 40's and no wind. It was Matt's 32nd birthday. Great run. 15 miles at a good long run pace for me with hills and trails and concrete. They helped push the pace. Up to 9 miles I was holding an 8 minute pace comfortably, then started to fade some and struggled on the hills the last 3 miles. Matt attacked every hill and was really strong, Bob also attacked most of the hills and is in great shape.

15 Miles 2:03:56


Weekly Summary - Great week for training. 5 Days 44 Miles with 2 Speed workouts and a 15 mile long run.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Moab Training Week 7

Week 7 - Less than 5 weeks to go before Moab.
Started the week off sore, very sore in the right calf area. Ice, heat and massage last night but still sore. Memories of 2008/2009 when I had lots of calf issues.

Monday - Cross Train due to calf soreness. Biked and Rowed. Spent a half hour stretching and massaging the calf. Used the foam rollers too. 30 Minutes of Cardio. Felt better after. That night I massaged, rolled, iced and heated it, got lots of rest and took some Advil.

Tuesday - Calf felt 200% better, some tightness, no pain. I did a track workout. Went there first to test it out and did a 400 and an 800, loosened up after the 800, so I ended up doing 4X800 and 2X400. The 800's were a bit slower than my target 3:00 . The last 400 was fast 85. Nice day in the 60's, good crowd at the track but no major workouts. Alicia dropped ran with us but just did laps around the track. Haven't seen her in a while. I was scheduled to do 10X800 today, with the calf I backed way off but not sure I would have completed that workout anyway.

6.5 Miles with 2.5 Miles of Speed.

Wednesday - Yoga. Rowed and stretched and then did an hour of Yoga with Susan. Calf was sore from the speed work and hamstrings and hips. Good yoga class.

Thursday - Middle 3 - 19:24. Ran the middle 3 with Tom, Jeff and Craig. It was near 50 with some wind but good conditions. 1 Traffic stop. The calf felt good doing the tempo 3 but then it was tight running back to the Y after a recovery rest. Some progress but not sub 19 which was my goal by mid February.

7 Miles with 3 at tempo.

Friday - Ran the duck pond with Andre 5 miles easy just us. nice temps in the 50's, sun, no wind. Good recovery run, found out Abbey from our somewhat pickled relay team has been battling Liver cancer since the fall Good luck Abbey we are with you.

5 miles easy

Saturday - Ran 4 miles easy with the dogs around the neighborhood and the high school fields. Pretty nice day, sunny. Easy slow pace.

Sunday - The goal was a 10 mile tempo run close to half marathon pace. 7:15ish would be ideal. Did not achieve it, not even close. It was very windy, with a head wind going out and cross winds much of the way. My fastest mile pace was about 7:30 with a tail wind. Head wind dropped it by a minute to 8:30. The last couple of miles uphill were really slow, my legs were dead. So with 4 weeks before Moab things are not looking good, but I will continue to push over the next 3 weeks to see how this training plays out.

10 Miles 1:21:43 Garmin Watch Data for Run

Weekly Summary - 5 Days, 32.5 Miles with 2 Speed Workouts and 1 Longer Distance Tempo Run

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Moab Training Week 6

This week I was supposed to get back on track (literally) and ramp up my running quantity and quality. Ummm Not so much...

Monday - I worked through lunch time workout. I was tired, drained and the weather was not so good with a cold front moving in. No excuses really, Superbowl party probably had an effect. Decided to switch my off day this week.

Tuesday - Worked at home, very cold and snow all day. I got into a work project and bagged the workout which was going to be intervals on the Treadmill 9X800. I really felt guilty later as I was shoveling 6 inches of snow out of the drive.

Wednesday - Did a double workout to make up for Monday and Tuesday. Went to the Y at lunch and ran 5 miles on the treadmill with 4X800 at 3:05 and 1X400 at 87. Then straight into yoga class for an hour. I was sweaty and the class was packed. Good class, my back was kinda stiff at first from the shoveling, good to stretch it out. Legs were fine except my left foot kept getting toe cramps on some of the balance poses and my hips were tight on the one legged poses.
5 Miles with 2.25 of speed plus 1 Hour Yoga.

Thursday - Wash Park 9.5 (Up Tempo) Feeling guilty about my lack of training and wanted to push myself, I took Matt up on his offer to go around wash park at lunch. Warmer with sun temps in the 30's, I wore shorts but I think I was the only runner I saw in shorts. Slushy, snow packed, some dry road and sidewalk. Tom, Bob, Matt and I started, the pace was up tempo from the start. Tom took the path, I followed Bob and Matt to wash park and around the park on the outer road (2.5 miles ). Good run, I had a 7:15 - 7:25 pace on the dry pavement and around 8 on the snow, but I tanked on the way back, running on the snow uphill my pace slowed. Matt finished strong.

Friday - Golf Course 7
Good golf course run with Andre and Matt. Sunny and warmer, stuff is melting but had to run the road next to the Golf Course. Right Calf was still sore from yesterday.

Saturday - Snowshoe in mountains. Went snowshoeing at the Moffut Tunnel with in the mountains with Matt from work and Sean. My first real snowshoe workout outside the neighborhood. Was a good workout, with 1800 feet of elevation gain. Starting at 9,200 feet up to 10,900 total of 7.3 miles in 3:15 . We stopped just before the tree line. Fun, but real cold and windy before you got in the trees then is was really nice. Lots of skiers and showshoers on the trail. I burned a lot of calories, I got hungry like 3 times, my legs were pretty tired also. Garmin Data for Snowshoe

Sunday - Long run 14. Ran an out and back to CC Park. Ran on the path to the road and then ran the road up to the west park entrance then back the same way. A few sections of the path were snow packed or slushy. Temperatures in the 60's with sun. Short sleeve weather for sure. I felt good, a bit sore from yesterday, especially my back and my right calf. About 3 1/2 miles into the run my right calf got tight. I stopped at 5 miles to stretch and ice it with snow. Then felt better and I had a nice pace up the hill catching some runners from behind. Overall my pace was good for miles 4 -9 where the path was dry or the road. But my calf kept tightening up. I stopped again at mile 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 13.5. To ice it with snow and stretch it some. I think I would have had a great long run if not for the calf. The last 3 miles were slow and pretty painful. I might have pushed too hard with the snowshoeing yesterday. I hope I did not set back my training / progress.


Weekly Summary 4 Days, 35.5 Miles and 7.4 Mile Showshoe.

Congratulations to Zach for winning his Age Group Sunday and the Valentines 5k race at Wash Park. His first race since the state meet in October and coming off wrestling. 19:24. A good starting point for track season.


Lisa, Zach and Courtney Valentines Day 5k.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Moab Training Week 5

Bitter Cold this Week for Denver, have to adjust my schedule and hit the treadmill some.

Monday - 7 Miles. Temperatures in the teens with blowing snow, icy roads and a wind chill below zero. So I did a 7 mile easy run at the Y on the treadmill, about an 8 minute pace. A typical Monday Wash Park Easy pace. Some of the other runners hit the treadmill or the track at the Y too. Didn't see anyone going outside. Like I told a co-worker Debbie. At some point common sense will take over.

Tuesday - Really cold today with a couple of inches of snow. Sub zero temps with windchill -20. Got to be the coldest day of the year (and coldest in the last several). Worked at home today, but went to the rec center for 800 intervals. Did 8X800 at a 3:03 pace with a 400 recovery - 3 minutes. I felt great and recovered well from the intervals. I felt like I could have done 10 today. Felt great after as I stretched at the rec center. Only negative was my shorts were old an the elastic was shot, so I had to keep pulling them up like every 100 meters when I was running hard. Annoying. Had older shoes but they were fine on the treadmill. Probably the best workout I've had in about 4 months or so. The 3 week training curve kicked in I think.

Wednesday - Yoga. Good Class, I was kind of tired and sore, had some problems with the balance poses and hamstring stretches especially on the left leg. Really cold out still, so good rest day.

Thursday - Schedule was for a middle 3 but with a snow storm and the cold temps, the route was frozen over, so Tom and I just went to wash park and back. I was still sore from Tuesday's treadmill intervals. 7 Miles

Friday - Golf Course 7. Ran the Golf Course route with Andre, Craig C and Matt. It was warmer and streets were clear but slushy for the most part. Paths were still snow packed though. Easy Run but messy.

Saturday - Rest Day. Zach's wrestling season is over, now on to track for him. I got a real rest day for a change, not sitting in the bleachers for 8 hours. Took the dogs out to the fields when it started snowing. Really snowed harder later. Went to King Soopers grocery shopping, that was a workout. Very crowded with the superbowl tomorrow.

Sunday - I had a long run scheduled, but we got about 5 inches of snow overnight and everything was snow packed. I ran an out and back 7 Mile to CC Park. I had my yak trax on but could not run a decent pace except in a few spots. I cut the route short, was scheduled for a 13 mile long run. 7 Miles in the snow.

Weekly Summary - 35 Miles, with 3 snow runs. 1 Speed workout on the treadmill.

Weekly Total Goal 41 Miles

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Moab Week 4

This week was scheduled to be an easier week, backing off the mileage and intensity so I can come back strong next week. So the Theory goes....

Monday - Did an easy Cheesman 4 mile park run with the group. Craig, Tom, Jeff and I, Bob went long. Sore from yesterdays long run so it was good to run short and easy.

Tuesday - I had to work late Monday night and all day Tuesday, so no track workout or run. Just a quick walk with the dogs to clear my head. I only got about 4 hours sleep due to work.

Wednesday - Yoga. Same Sub as last week, but an easier class with more sitting poses. She might have overheard us talking after class...

Thursday - Middle 3. Great day for a middle 3. Sunny in the 50's. I ran 19:39. Disappointing compared to last year, but did improve a bit over 2 weeks ago. No track work helped. Good group but not a lot of middle 3ers. Matt ran with me from about Alameda on the way back for a half mile and then pulled away from me. Sore right calf afterwards 7 Miles with 3 at tempo.

Friday - Golf Course 7. Great Day, sunny, 65 Degrees, no wind. Nice Golf Course Run with Matt at a comfortable pace. Calf was sore before the run , but it stretched it out. Nice Recovery run.
7 Miles.

Saturday - Rest Day, Spent several hours watching Zach wrestle in a tournament. Walked the dogs late in the day.

Sunday - Tempo 6.5. Woke up with a sore back (thanks to the bleachers). Stretched it out some and then went for a 6.5 Mile Tempo run from my house through CC Park and then back through the neighborhood to Bellview and home. I wanted to average around 7:20. It's a tough route with some serious uphill. I was running 7:30's when I started to fade a bit in the 3rd mile. I really had to focus to get back on pace. Then I saw Jill running the other way at mile 3. I hadn't seen her in a while so we stopped to talk a bit. I caught my breath as we chatted for about 5 minutes. Then I took off, ran the 4th mile in 7:05, my fastest but it is flat there and the rest/recovery really helped. I did pretty good on the hills, felt stronger and finished strong. Ran the 6.5 in 49:35. The fastest I've run that route, but the rest stop helped. It does give me a bit of a confidence boost that my 4 weeks of training are starting to take hold. After the tempo run, I ran an easy 1.5 mile cool down with the dogs in the fields at SH. 8 Miles total with 6.5 at tempo.


Weekly Summary - 4 Days, 28 Miles, 2 Tempo Runs

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Moab Week 3

Monday - Nice Day, ran with the group to Wash Park and Back. Group of about 7 Split up on the way, at the turn around and at the path, so ended up just Andres and I for the 7. I was kind of sore from my long run, but we had a decent pace. Also ran on Humboldt on the way back which has a pretty good hill for about a half mile. The MLK parade was going on so we had to dodge it as we crossed Colfax on the way out. Pete M was there and Matt met us at 7th since it was a holiday. Matt and Bob went around the park. Tom came back on the bike path with Pete. 7 Miles

Tuesday - 50 Degrees for about 3 days in a row, so the track was melted. Did my first real track workout in about 3 months. 6 X 800 Intervals with a 200 recovery between. Time range was 259-305. About 5 seconds off where I should be and about 10 seconds off from last year when I started the track. Felt good overall though. Craig M ran them with me and Pete C did some 400's with some 800's. Bob ran the mile high loop. 7 Miles total with 3 at speed.

Wednesday - Yoga. Substitute Teacher, Challenging class

Thursday - Worked at home and it snowed. I was still sore from Tuesday's track workout and new the footing would be bad for a tempo run. I ended up running 5 miles with the dogs around the neighborhood at an easy pace. Waited till about 3 for the snow to melt in the sun. 5 Miles

Friday - Ran the Golf Course with Matt at a decent pace. Traded my 5 miles yesterday for 7 today, but no tempo. Still sore from the track, hamstring mainly. Nice day though and snow was mostly gone but we ran in the street down 23rd due to the snow.

Saturday - Rest Day, spent most of the day at Smoky watching the Varsity Wrestling tournament they hosted. Zach had 4 matches. Tough day, lots of good wrestlers. Spoke with Manley a bit about track coming up. He dropped by to see some of the runners wrestle but missed them and had to leave.

Sunday - Long Run 12. Left at 11, ran the trails at CC Park up to the entrance and down by the Marina, then home via the bike trail and the road. Nice running weather. I faded some on my pace and I had some stomach cramps about half way through. Slower than I wanted but it was 12 miles. Seems like I say this every week but I have a lot of work to do before Moab.

Weekly Total 5 Days - 38 Miles with 1 speed workout and 1 long run of 12.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Moab Training Week 2

Monday - It was cold, 10 degrees and 6 inches of snow on the ground. It had quit snowing and the sun was out but it was still really cold, so I decided to run inside on a treadmill for the first time in almost a year. I contemplated skipping the run and making it up when it warms up and dries out later in the week, but decided to hit the hamster wheel for 6 at the Y. Actually felt ok on it and did 6.5. Matt dropped by on his way outside, he and Bob were going to run outside today. I saw Pete on the treadmill next to me for a while doing some sprint intervals and then some quarters. I started my pace at 7.0 and increased it a 1/10 every mile with a max speed of 7.6.

Tuesday - Treadmill 800 Intervals at the Y, still very cold but the sun was out. I was dreading this workout all morning, having spent 6.5 miles on the treadmill the day before and my first interval work in about 3 months. But once I got warmed up with a mile easy and then did my first interval I felt good. I did 5X800 with a 1/2 mile recovery between. The 800's were slower than I'd do on the track but a good starting point. I increased the pace 1/10 MPH per interval from 9.0 to 9.4 (3:10 pace). Matt was on the treadmill next to me doing a tempo workout. My workout was better than I was expecting, the intervals make the treadmill time go by quicker.
6 Miles total.

Wednesday - Yoga. Tough Class, some tough binding poses

Thursday - Warmed up to 57, Ran the Middle 3 under Icy/snow packed roads with Tim. I took a few seconds off from last week 19:46 for the tempo 3. Ran on the sidewalks more and got a couple of traffic stops. Tim's running Moab too and starting to train for it. Craig C met us on the way back and ran with us back. 7 Miles with 3 at tempo.

Friday - Easy Duck Pond 5 Mile run with the group. Most of the group did the 7 mile golf course but I kept it to 5 to keep my miles down and recover before my long run Sunday.

Saturday - Rest day, easy dog walk after wrestling tournament with Zach

Sunday - Long Run 11 Miles. Did an out and back to CC Park around Noon. Temperature in the 50's with some clouds. Ran on the bike patch which was icy/snow packed in spots that were shaded. Had a pretty good pace for the first 5 miles where it was dry. Faded a bit but finished strong on the last mile up the hill to the house.

Weekly Mileage 35.5.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Zach All City 2010 Aurora Team for Cross Country

Zach made the Aurora All City Cross Country team with his 76th finish at the State Meet (Top 7 from Aurora schools make the All City Team). Way to go Zach!

Here's a link to the article with a great Picture of the teams, Smoky Hill dominated the boys team with 4 of the 7 and had two on the girls team. Congrats to them all.

1st Week of January

First week of full training in 2011. Week 1 of the Moab 10.

Monday - Group run from the Y 8 of us, nice day. Ran with Andres and Bob to Wash Park and back. A bit up tempo the last mile.

Tuesday - Plan was to go to the track and do some 800's, at least 4. Warmer today with sun but the EHS Track was still snow covered though so we went to City Park to do half mile intervals on the road. But the road was frozen over and slick so we ended up just doing 5 around the park. Bob and I did some dry-spot intervals where we would run on the dry spots of the road at 400 pace as far as we could till it got slick again. We did this for about 2 miles and then had an easy mile back. 5 Miles

Wednesday - Yoga. First time in Yoga in about 6 weeks. Susan's class was packed. Good session, my muscles and back were cracking and popping. Felt good, but I'm out of Yoga shape even more than running shape.

Thursday - First Middle 3 since September, 3 months. Nice day in the 50's with sun. Short Sleeve running. First tempo run since October and it showed. 19:52 for the middle 3. My string of sub 19 middle 3's is over after 2 Years and 8 months, of course not running one for 3 months helped to extend the streak. 19:52 gives me a mark to improve upon. I would like to get in down under 19 by the end of February. I have definitely lost that speed edge and toughness, felt it in my lungs trying to push the pace. The road was icy in spots but I ran on the sidewalk on the way back which was pretty clear. Craig ran it also. I have a lot of work ahead of me...

Friday - City Park Duck Pond, easy 5 miles with the group. Nice weather but snow is heading back.

Saturday - Rest day, took the dogs for a walk and did stuff around the house. Nice day with a big snow storm coming tonight.

Sunday - Long run 10 Miles. I was going to go early and beat the snow, but when I got up the snow was already on the ground. So I waited. Zach was going to run a few with me, but he was tired from wrestling and staying up late. I should have gone about 10, but it was 12 before I left. By then it was snowing hard and blowing from the northeast. I took the dogs for a 2 mile run through the Smoky Hill fields and then dropped them at the house. I then ran an 8 mile loop through CC Park. A nice route, but the weather really turned on me. At 3 miles in, I stopped and got a drink and thought about turning back and making it an 8 mile day. I decided to tough it out and go on and finishing the loop. In hindsight that was the wrong decision. My pace was very slow due to the snow, even with yak trax and running to the north or east was very cold temperatures were in the 20's with a wind chill in the teens. I was dressed OK, except for my bare face which took a frosty beating. I pushed through the 10 and finished, I was freezing by the time I got home though. A real character builder run that one was or maybe stupid. I did burn more calories trudging through the snow.

34 Miles for the week in 5 days, with 1 tempo run and some speed. Long run of 10 in the snow.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

A quick look back at 2010

2010 Was a good running year for me. Here's a quick recap of the year that was... /cliche


Positives...

I ran 1875 miles, 2nd most ever from 1924 in 2008.
I ran 241 Days out of 365, 66% of the days. 2nd Most from 272 in 2007
I averaged 7.75 Miles per run, 2nd highest MPR from 2008

I ran in 13 races over the year, racing in 6 different states.

I set 3 PRs this year
10 MIle at Snowman on 2/27 - 1:09:41
1/2 Marathon at Michelson Trail on 6/6 - 1:31:37
10 K at Evergreen Town Race on 8/1 - 42:25

I ran 2 relays, a week apart in August. Cache Teton with Team Anadarko and Pickled Prostates for the 6th year in a row. Both teams did very well, winning their divisions and finishing 3rd and 2nd overall and I have a lot of fun memories from both relays and made some new friends with the Anadarko Team.

I ran two half marathons with my son Zach. Who had a great year running and suprassed me at every distance except the marathon.

I achieved my longtime goal of running the Boston Marathon on 4/19/2010 with a time of 3:28 qualifying for Boston at Boston.

Negatives...

Not a lot of negatives this year. I lacked motivation after the relays and felt beat down and slow to recover. I was healthy overall with no major injures, but I had a lot of nagging injuries with my left heel and my left hamstring that plauged me since Boston and are still not gone.

I only did 13 races, down from 17 the year before, not a real negative, but racing definately helps to keep that edge and motivation going. I lost a bit of confidence in my last few races after the relays. I did not have that push I did earlier in the year, I am left wondering if I can get my speed back to where it was.

I did not do a fall marathon, that is probably my biggest negative, even a mediocre marathon would have been a nice accomplishment before I cut back on my mileage.

So it was a good year, I would change a couple of things, but lots of great memories and runs and friends along the way.

Still thinking about my goals for 2011. A PR half at Moab is on the list but not sure after that.

Happy New Year!

That's an original title, I bet I'm the first blogger to use that one. If I can call myself a blogger, it's been 2 months since I blogged any running.

A quick catch up about the last 2 months

I cut back my running to casual, easy running since October, my last race was the Band on the Run 2 mile. I felt I needed a break from the training but wanted to keep a base and not miss the good running weather we've had. I ran 108 miles in October and 110 in November, no races, no speed work. Some good group runs at lunch and some runs with friends and Zach and the dogs. I picked it up a bit in December doing some longer runs and got my mileage back up to 133 miles. The weather has been really good for December running

In addition to the physical pains of training for a while without a break, I have also had problems with motivation for running, not so much the easy runs to keep a base, but no desire to do speed work or races or anything that pushes me beyond that comfort threshold. I've also had some issues in my professional life that have put running on the back shelf. Also spent the night in the emergency room on December 12th, I won't go into the details but will say that I'm fine and it's something I have been dealing with that is not running related, in fact I had a great 10 mile run the day after. One of those great to be alive type of runs.

2011...
I registered for the Moab half and got in, so now it's 2011 and I'm ready to start training for it. I decided to go on a 10 week training schedule starting Jan 3rd with a goal of a PR 1/2 marathon 1:31:16. That should motivate me. My weight is 156, so I've put on about 4 pounds with the cut back, not too bad. My base long run is 10 miles. I still have a few nagging issues, left hamstring, heel and right knee. I would like to get my weight down to 150 for Moab. I have been really lazy with my diet and cross training

I plan to blog my progress and see if it is possible to take this much time off and get back in half marathon shape in 10 weeks with winter training. I will fill in my Calendar below and post progress, setbacks and updates.