Boston the day before

Blogging from Cold and rainy Boston. Supposed to clear up before the race and be good weather for running the race, not so good for the spectators.

Went to the Expo Yesterday, it was huge and very crowded, but very well organized, especially getting your number, shirt, bag and the official Merchandise area. Never saw so many Boston Jackets in my life (duh). Lots of people were wearing them at the expo and around town from previous years and the present. I am too superstitious to wear mine in advance of the race and feel it is something I really need to earn anyway. Also got a hat, singlet, shorts, coffee mug and a water bottle. This really is a mecca for runners to go and experience. The city really gets behind it's marathon also. Everywhere you go, locals ask where your from and what you running it in and give you their own tips or perspective.

Dennis, Brittany, Gina and Zach at the Expo

Zach and I stayed at the expo for a while and checked out a lot of things. He bought a book, The Runners Rule Book and the Author Signed it. Meanwhile the girls went over to the Boston Public Library and checked out the oldest library in the country.

Courtney, Gina and Brittany at the Library Courtyard

The girls Studying


Zach ran yesterday along the St. Charles River path on the Boston Side, about 7 miles. I rested, but wanted to go out with him, so I walked him over the bridge to the river path.

Zach getting ready to Run along the St. Charles in Boston

We went to little Italy for Dinner last night with Courtney, my niece from NYC and Ashley her friend. We had a lot of fun and while looking for a restaurant to seat 6 at 7:00 without reservations, I ran across Mark Brown from Denver. Funny, just a chance meeting, then saw him again on the Subway coming back. He's staying at the Hyatt downtown, we chatted a bit waiting for the crowded subway train to get in. Anyway, back at Little Italy, we ate at a nice little Italian restaurant that got us in pretty quick. Nice area, tons of Italian restaurants, lots of runners carbo loading.

Brittany, Courtney, Ashley and Dennis Headed to Little Italy

Gina and Zach Ready for some Italian Food

Nice Itallian Restaurant, Great Food. Brittany's Expression. Priceless

Zach and I ran 2.5 miles at Boston Commons today, nice easy run. We stopped and looked at a few statues and other things, so much history here. My legs felt good and the temperature was nice for running. We took the subway over and back, to keep the miles down, but it would have been about a mile each way.

We tried to do the trolley tour with all of us (Brittany, Courtney and Ashley went over to Harvard) while we ran. It didn't work out, the trolleys were all busy and we could not find one with 6 seats to stop, so after an hour we got our money back and took the subway over to Boston Commons, walked the freedom trail a bit and then it started pouring so we came back. Just relaxing at the hotel now so I thought I would blog a bit.

Trying to relax and rest my legs for tomorrow. The worst part for me is the night before a marathon and the anxiety and sleeplessness and all the what if's that can go wrong in a marathon. I know some of this is normal and try to just go with it and not worry more.

Garmin Watch Data from 2.5 Mile Boston Commons Run with Zach.

Congratulations to my friend Alicia, who completed her first 1/2 Iron Man Triathlon on Saturday in 5 Hours 57 Minutes and got 3rd in her age group. Great Job Alicia.

In Boston

We are in Boston, at the Cambridge Marriott.

It's cold here, cloudy with some rain. Forecast for the weekend is more of the same.
Good for running, but not so good for site seeing with the family.

Long flight here, glad I have a couple of days to stretch out before the marathon.

Expo tomorrow morning.

Cheesman 4 Miles Easy

Ran the 4 Miles to Cheesman Park, actually to the Middle 3 Start. Chatted with the guys before they ran the middle 3 then ran back. Jeff, Scott, Craig and Tom did the Middle 3. A beardless Craig M did the middle 5 thing he does. Dan ran out to the park with us, 3 days in a row for him. He was transporting tons of Ben-Gay with him on his calfs. It's Tax Day and there was a Tea Party going on at the Capitol, so he was fired up about that.

A nice easy run. I feel good, getting lots of energy and the legs are feeling fresher. I had a nice massage on Tuesday and went to Yoga yesterday, stretch and talked with Gerry, a former runner now biker who has done Boston several times and went out there a lot to visit his kids in college. He had some good tips and stories. He also sent me this link with a view of Boston from the Spectator's view.

http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/030418&wwparam=1271167681

Fun talking to Craig, Scott and Jeff about Boston. They have all done it. They mainly talked about the bathrooms and the crowds. Craig said I should go for it and set out at a 6:30 pace. I told him if I did that I'd be sitting in Newton saying.... "OK I'm done".

I plan to take my laptop and might do a few blogs, but looks like a busy weekend. I'm getting excited, but the nerves and what if's are starting to pop in and out of my head.

4 Miles 31:58

MHS Track 4X400 Intervals

Ran 4 400's on the MHS Track today.

Goal was 80-85 range, Ran 1 too fast which was my biggetst worry 81,78,82,81.

Most marathon plans have you running a short track workout the week before the race, to remind your legs and lungs what it's like to run fast, but not over do it or build up too much lactic acid or soreness.


Sunny with temps in the 60's but very windy. 20-40 MPH gusts.

Good group at the track. Chris,Matt,Craig C, Tom, Tim and myself. Tim's first time to the track.
Everyone did 400's except Chris who did 40 second 200's as many as he could and stay on pace.


Alicia dropped by on an easy run and we chatted a bit. She has a 1/2 Iron Man this Saturday. Her first 1/2 Iron. Good Luck Alicia


5.5 Miles 44 Minutes with 1 mile of speed work.


I have an 80 minute massage tonight, should be so relaxing...

On the downer side...
A couple of guys were at the track with blueprints walking around. Craig talked to them. Turns out they are closing the Manual Track this summer and re-doing it and when it opens again it will probably not be open to the public. That would be the second time that has happened to us and pretty much rule out track workouts on an actual track for our group.

Cheeseman 4 Easy

Ran the Cheeseman Park Route 4 Miles, easy today from the Y at lunch.

Big group today, cloudy with some wind, but temperatures were upper 60's. Most of the group did Congress, but I stuck by my plan and just did Cheeseman. I did pick it up a tad as I was running back down 16th, thinking about Boston and feeling good with fresh legs on a Monday.

This morning I went to Yoga, good class, some nice hip stretches and core work.
I feel good going into my last week before Boston, getting some good rest/sleep so far, allergies have calmed down some with Claratin.

15 Miles planned this week, so I will probably be bouncing off the walls by the end of the week.

4 Miles 31:05

CC Park Out and Back

Ran from the old library out to Butterfly Hill in CC Park. Mainly on the trails on the way out and mainly road/bike path on the way back.

Ran with Jill today, first time in a while. We had a good run. She is doing Boston in a week also, she wanted to do some fartleks and hill repeats, so we did some in the park. We ran from the old library out to the trails past the 3rd bridge, then took it easy on the single track till we got over to the main road by the shooting range.

Then we ran about a 400 at a 7:30 pace. Then we got on the trails and headed over to butterfly hill, with a couple of pick ups on the hills. When we got to butterfly hill, we did a couple of hill repeats on each side. On one repeat I picked up the pace going down and then back up, good work for Boston.

On the way back we ran easy and talked about Boston, she ran it last year and had lots of good advice for me for the race and for doing stuff over the weekend. We got on Jordan Road on the way back and ran that road with a gradual climb for a mile or so, then bike path back to the library. I messed up my Garmin on the way back and had it off for about a mile after the last hill repeat.

It was good to run with her again and catch up and talk about running and friends and racing plans for the summer. Thank Jill, see you in Boston, Good Luck!

Garmin Watch Data for Run

8.5 Miles 1:20:35

For my 2nd week of Boston Taper 33.5 Miles

CIty Park Duck Pond

Did the duck pond 5 Mile run today. Ran with Dave C, Andre and Pete C.

Nice day in the 60's with sun. I wore a singlet, felt good on a spring day.
Allergies were not quite as bad as yesterday, but they are here, thanks to the budding trees all over Denver.

Easy run, although Andre and I picked it up a bit the last mile as we were chatting. His back is feeling better.
5 Miles 39:54.

After the run Dave gave me some Boston advice. That is his PR marathon. Easy the first mile, run a negative split, have fun and enjoy, let it go the last 3 miles.

I had an acupuncture treatment this afternoon. Alison did both my calf's and a spot on my left hamstring. Mainly preventative. Easy treatment with the electricity down from previous, she did not want to be too aggressive so close to the Marathon. Very relaxing, like a massage. They were sore after. I walked the dogs when I got home, felt better after stretching them out some on the walk.

Middle 3

Ran my last tempo run/ middle 3 before Boston today. 18:29

Nice day, 60 degrees, sun and no wind.

We had a good group today. Jeff, Chris, Craig M, Craig C, Alicia, Tom, Jay and myself. We saw Matt coming back as we were going out and Chipman going out as we were coming back.

Craig M did a Middle 5, Alicia and Craig C did an easy 6 to get back and watch the middle 3 finish.

I felt good the whole way, I did not get any traffic stops going out, ran 9:28 out and 9:01 back with a 5:57 last mile with a break at Speer, so that was a positive.

Chris was on my heels the whole way, caught up to me at a couple of short traffic stops (Alameda and Speer coming back). He finished around 19. Amazing considering how much cross training and little running he does.

Jeff did his first middle 3 in forever and ran around 19:50, he's only run 3 times since Moab so he did good.

Tom and Jay had a close finish and won the team event with their matching uniforms (black shorts, no shirt, yellow hat). Jay had a strong kick gaining on Tom, but Tom held him off. About 21 for those two.

Fun run, good competition on a great day, this is what running is all about.

Garmin Watch Data for Middle 3

After the run, I was sneezing a lot, spring allergies are here.

Yoga

Went to the 12:30 Yoga class at the Y. Susan's Class. Good workout today, lots of movement. I felt pretty good, legs were not as tight and I had decent flexibility and stamina. I felt relaxed and at peace. Na Ma Stay. It was a crowded class though.

Weather is looking good for the next few days as I continue my 2nd week of tapering.

I saw where it was 90 degrees in Boston today with high winds. I hope it has gotten it out of it's system and will behave itself next week through the race. It is supposed to cool off there, too far out to care about the forecast yet.

MHS Track Intervals

Went to the MHS track at lunch and ran intervals. 3 X 800 (256-258) and 3X400 (80-84). Alternated 800 then 400. It was really windy at the track, a headwind on the north straightway.

We had a fast group out there today, Matt, Craig M, Chipman, myself and Craig C. The other guys did 400's except Craig M did 800's.

I didn't go all out on the intervals, but tried to run smooth and controlled. The wind threw off my stride and probably cost everyone a second or two.

6.5 Miles - 52 Minutes with 2.25 of speed work.

Congress Park 5 Miles

Ran the Congress Park route with the group today. 5 Miles Easy. Nice day, near 60 with sun and little wind.

I was sore, tired and lethargic coming off of yesterdays mediocre 10 mile run. Makes me question my training some and think maybe I'm not as fit as I could/should be. Reduced miles and intensity but still sore and tired. Looking at my blog and log from previous races, this is pretty typical though. Plus it's too late to improve any now.

I might taper my taper some more, I'll see how I feel tomorrow and adjust what I do at the track and the rest of this week.

5 Miles 39:17

CC Park 10 Mile Tempo Run

Did a 10 Mile Tempo run this Easter Morning. Got up early and ran so I could get back by 10 and we could all go to church (Brittany's home from school). Got off to a slow start, also messed up my Garmin for the first minute or so.

My first two mile splits were way slower than my tempo pace, took me a while to get loosened up. It was cool, 40's with sun and just a little bit of a head wind going out on the out and back route. My last 8 splits were faster, but still slower than I expected. I thought 7:30's comfortably, but ran closer to 7:45 with only 2 splits around 7:30.

I felt better at the turn around for about 3 miles then slowed down a bit at the end on the hill. Not sure why I was sluggish and sore and did not nail this workout like I thought I would.


Garmin Watch Data for Route

10 Miles 1:18:06

After we met Gina's sister and my sister's families at church, Courtney is visiting from NYC. Then we went to the Harris's for A late lunch on a beautiful spring day. They lit a fire in the back yard and burned a lot of stuff including their 20 ft Pine Christmas tree. A fun day, I might have inhaled too much smoke, some of it toxic, though and perhaps a bit too much wine. 2 Weeks to detox before Boston.

City Park Duck Pond 5 Mile Run

Did an easy 5 mile duck pond run today.

Ran with Craig C and Matt, a lot of people off work today because of Good Friday and spring break.

Was kinda windy and cloundy with temps in the 40's, wore shorts and short sleeve shirt though, not too bad. Looks like a good weekend. Rest day tomorrow and tempo 10 miler on Sunday morning.

5 Miles, 42:44

Middle 3 - 18:27

Ran the middle 3 tempo run today at lunch. 18:27 for the Middle 3 portion, my goal was 18:30 so I felt good about it, ran pretty even splits.

Patrick and Scott ran the middle 3 also, Scott was 16:50 and Patrick was 17:30's, I asked Patrick if he had been running and he said no, he was out of shape. Ha! He ran a 2:58 Boston in 2008, he said he really liked the course and the marathon in general, but he's from the area.


Matt ran 2 minute tempo intervals with 3 minute break. Tom and Craig just ran an easy 6. Craig M did a middle 5 with a loop through was park.

Nice run back, a bit up from the normal pace. Cool, cloudy day in the 50's. Perfect for a tempo run.


Garmin Watch Data for Middle 3

Garmin upgraded there web site with some nice features for displaying data.
My favorite new feature is they have an elevation correction, that uses actual elevation data for the lat/long and the elevation recorded on the watch to determine a more accurate elevation.
It makes for a smoother more realistic graph. You can turn it on or off and go back to the watch graph if you want.

You can also see splits and a lot of information on the details screen. There's also a moving pace vs actual pace, I think that accounts for slow downs and starts when you stop the watch.

7 Miles 50:27

Rest and Yoga

Rest day today, went to Yoga at the Y at Lunch. Did some stretching, a few weights and some abs before class. Had a substitute instructor with more of an Eastern Yoga flair. Interesting and a bit different.

This was a good month running wise for me. I ran 24 out of the 31 days.
207.5 Miles for March with 9 speed workouts including 2 races, 3 20 mile long runs.


That puts me at 583.5 for the year.
That's the most I've ever had this early in the year. Thanks Boston!

800 Intervals X 8

Went to the MHS Track at lunch and ran 800 Intervals. Had 10 on my schedule but I stopped at 8. Goal was to do them all under 3 and close to 2:55. Range was 253-258, average 2:56.

2:56,2:54,2:53,2:53,2:56,2:56,2:57,2:58

I did not force or push any of them too hard. I tried to run smooth, relaxed and easy. I was breathing hard at the end of most of them though.

It was a nice day, temperatures in the 70's with sun. A little warm for intervals almost, but it felt like spring. Craig, Chris and Pete ran to the track with me. They did 6X400's and went back.

Wore a singlet today and then took it off for the last few intervals, nice with the sun, I sweated a lot. today A little bit of allergy in my sinuses, not bad for this time of the year with this weather though. Trees usually get me when they start blooming which they are.

I had a 80 minute massage with Tara after work. My calf's were tight, she spent a lot of time on them. Then my hamstrings and my hips. I need to stretch out more during the taper.
Right knee is doing great now, so that seems to be over (knock on wood).

9 Miles with 5 at Speed. 1 Hour 15 Mintues of running

Congress Park 5 Miles

Ran an easy recovery run with the group today. Did the Congress Park 5 mile loop. Weather was nice, parthly cloudy but temps in the 60's.

Good group today, Scott, Jay, Matt, Pete, Bob and Craig M back from 6 weeks in Abu-Dabi.

Craig Carver joined us on the back side of Congress near Cheesman. Bob went to Wash Park, Scott and Jay went short to Cheesman. So the core of the group did Congress.

Good recovery run for me.
I went to the Y this morning and did Yoga, helped to loosen me up for the run and then the run helped to loosen up more.
　
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/28374646
5 Miles 42:02

Congratulations to my son Zach who ran a 5:12 mile at a varsity track meet in Ft. Collins today. Taking 30 seconds off his previous PR and shattering my mile PR. Way to go Zach. You are getting fast, your training is really paying off. Keep it up.

Long Run - 20

Ran my last 20 miler today. 2:48:16
Weather was great, 40's-50's with Sun. A bit of a head wind from the West going out and then South and East coming back.

Did my 20 mile Cherry Creek Resevoir, around the Dam and down the CC Bike Trail then back through CC Park along parker.

My goal was to average an 8:15 pace, ended up with 8:25. Had two slow miles uphill at 15 and 19. First 11 Miles were on Pace, finished with a good 20th mile.

Garmin Watch Data for Run

Great views of the snow covered rockies on the run. I am so blessed to be able to run, no matter what happens in Boston I should be thankful just for being able to train and run as much as I do. It was awe inspiring at times. Knowing that this was the last long run on the road to Boston gave me a lift too.

3 Gu's at 5,10,15 and 2 water stops.


I was sore after, been a tough week. 60 Miles. Starting to taper now, a few tough workouts left over the next 3 weeks, but nothing like the last few week.
I made it to the taper, pretty much on schedule as I layed it out in January. For that I am thankful too. Also no injuries (knock on wood), thankful for that also.

11 Easy

Ran another 11 mile run today. This time easy, no tempo whatsoever.

Started out with the group (Craig, Pete, Dave, Jay and Matt) and did the City Park Duck Pond, on the way back I separated from the group at Park Avenue (4 Miles) and went to Cheesman through to 7th. Took 7th down to Colorado and then back. Took the Congress route to Cheesman and then another lap around Cheesman and back to the Y for 11.

I took it slow and easy. I didn't eat enough so I had a calorie crash and also no water, so fatigue and slow, training myself to push through when I am fatigued.

Garmin Watch Data for Run

11 Miles 1:40:10
Rest day tomorrow. I need it.

11.2 Mile run with 7.25 up Tempo

Nice day, sunny 50. Snow has melted off the roads, but still on the paths.
Was late getting to the Y, but so was Jeff and Matt.
We ran easy the first 2 miles to the Middle 3 start point. I felt good, fresh, on the warmup.

I went up tempo Middle 3 Pace to wash park 9:26 a 6:17 Pace
Then I did 2 laps on the road at wash Park 2.2 Miles each at a 7 minute pace and then a 7:15 pace.
Medium Tempo Pace 4.4 Miles in 31:43, 7:11 Pace
Then up tempo Middle 3 Pace back to 6th 9:24 a 6:16 Pace
Then ran the last 2 miles to Y easy. 11.2 Miles total 1:22:50

Matt and Jeff ran easy to wash park. They Met Craig and Dave at the top of the Hill as I ran past, then I saw Scott and Tom running the middle 3.
Guess there was an early crowd that we missed.
　
Garmin Watch Data for Run

11.2 Miles 1:22:50

Snowshoe for 2.5

The Denver area got hit with another snow storm Tuesday night. Tough commute home last night and snowed all night into the next morning. So I worked at home. I had Yoga on my schedule, but with 8 inches of snow on the ground and no Yoga classes at my house. I decided to go for a lower impact cardio workout. Running with Snowshoes. Plus I finally got to test out the snowshoes I got for Christmas.

In the afternoon the sun came out and it was melting quick. Gina and I took the dogs to the fields behind smoky hill high school. There's 2 football/lacrosse fields that are usually empty. I ran a figure 8 course (about a third of a mile). Lucy ran laps with me, Levi stayed near the trees and chased bird shadows.

Good workout, I was breathing hard, especially in the deeper, wetter snow. I almost tripped a couple of times, when I'd get fatigued and not get the tips up. After a couple of laps, I had a nice packed path though and it made it easier. I was concerned my quads might be sore if I did too much and it would impact my running the rest of the week.


2.5 Miles - Snowshoe Running.

It's warming up and melting quick, Thursday and Friday look good and Sunday for my last long run before Boston.

SHHS Track Intervals 10X800

Ran Intervals at Smoky Hill HS track near my house this morning.
Bad weather forecast for the afternoon and night and a lunch meeting so I had to get the workout in this morning.
I Started at 6:30 - Crack of Down and ran through the sun rise, finished at 8

Intervals were slower, ranged from 2:58 to 3:07, average 3:04. About 10 seconds slower than lunch intervals. Not a good morning interval runner and still sore from Moab. Did not want to push into that threshold and risk injury either.

1 1/4 Mile warm up, which I needed climbing straight out of bed into running clothes and out the door..

Splits were
306,258,301,304,304,304,307,303,306,259

3:15 Rest with a 200 recovery between intervals

Then a mile and a half cool down run home.

The track runs east-west on the straights, so it was kinda cool running into the sunrise. Temperature was mid 30's but nice once the sun came up.
Kind of noisy there though with construction and traffic. Saw Gina as she dropped Zach off at school.

8.5 Miles with 5 Miles of Speed work

Wash Park 7

Ran a Wash Park 7 recovery run today.

Moab Monday. Jeff, Tom, Bob and myself from Moab ran. Craig was still sore from the "plumbing".

Nice day in the 60's. I had 9.5 around the park on the schedule but work meetings made me cut it short. I will try to make up the miles later in the week, to get a 60 mile week.

Matt ran with us, he had fresh legs. Congratulations to Matt, expecting a baby in September, we discussed how this would impact his running career and fall marathons.

Jeff and Tom did Cheesman, the rest of us went to wash park.

The pace was pretty good for a recovery run, a little faster than I wanted, but I hung with Bob and Matt.
Pete and Chipman met us at the top of the country club hill on the way back.
Then Matt,Bob and Chipman took off, and Pete and I ran back easy. Bob is a machine, after a great Moab he ran up tempo the last 3 miles with those 2.

7 Miles 54 Minutes

4 Weeks out from Boston.

Moab Half Marathon - 1:33:02

Ran the Moab Half Marathon in 1:33:02.

Fun race, great day for it, as Bob said "It's a Moab Day". Sun, with temperatures in the 50's for a high, so the run out of the canyon was not as hot as last year. Could not hold my goal of a sub 7 pace, but ran it hard and had a strong finish.


Garmin Watch Data for Race

Race Results


Racing to the Finish at the Moab Half


Moab 2010 Group Picture Post Race

Scott, Dennis, Jeff, Bob, Alicia, Craig and Tom

I put up a post on the prostates site, with the results from the group and some finish line pictures...

http://www.pickledprostates.com/2010/03/moab-half-marathon-march-20-2010.html

I am swamped with work and behind on everything. I will fill this post in later with the details.

Cheesman Easy 4 Miles

Did an easy 4 mile run from the Y around Cheesman today. Nice day, 60's partly cloudy.
Ran with Matt. His first run back since his Father passed away March 6th. He did get to run some with his brother in Minnesota.

We had an easy run, but not a bad pace. 30:43. Talked about Moab and training and upcoming races and his dad a bit.

Saw Tom before we left, he did a quick Colfax. Didn't see any other Moabers today.

Weather could be tough for the drive to Moab tomorrow. Could get 10 inches of snow in Denver and we are driving right through it. Plan to leave early

Race weather look good for running high of 50, dry on Saturday. Not so good for a spring weekend in Moab though.

MHS Track Intervals - 6X400

Went to the MHS Track with the group and did 6X400 with a range of 68 - 80. Average 75. My Target was 80.

Gorgeous day, mid 50's and sunny I was able to break away from work at lunch.

Tom, Craig and Scott ran out to the Track with me, Bob was already there. Pete C came later and joined us at the end.

Was good to have Scott on the track, he's so fast and smooth usually running quarters in the low 70s. Everyone decided to do 400's with Moab 5 days a way, a good tune-up. Scott said 6 would be ideal and that's what I had in my plan. I have been doing 800's so 400's seemed easy and I pushed the pace (hopefully not too much). I felt good though.

My splits were…
75,80,76,74,78,68

When we got to #4 Scott said he was done as was Tom. Bob was running around the track like the energizer bunny. Craig said he'd do one more with me. And we were going to stop at 5.

There was a young lady in college from Nebraska training on the track with her coach for the 400. He was an old school coach and told us our track was a 440 track and we were actually running a full mile with 4 laps. Craig and the guys were talking to him and one thing led to another and he was talking about runners and kids and how fast the kids were. I told him Scott could run under 70 on a 400 and he didn't believe us, so he said run it and I'll time you. Since I shot my mouth off, I told Scott I'd run with him or as best I could.
The old school coach wanted to time us on a true 400 yards so he told us to run in lane 2 and start on the curve and would finish where he was standing. Scott took off and I stuck with him through about the 200 point which we did in 30 seconds, and then he pulled away. The coach timed Scott at 53 and me at 57. I kept running to the full lap and got 68 on my watch so that's a 64 for Scott. A 68 is a PR quarter thanks to Scott and the coach. The coach was impressed that these old guys could run that fast, he liked to talk. He also said he had a key to the East HS track. I like the way he measures the track, but we were all skeptical, a 400 means 400 meters to us.

Then Pete and Bob raced the girl in a 200 at the coaches request. She had the outer lane and pulled out ahead, but Pete was closing on her at the end with a 32, Bob's heart was not in the race and he did another lap. It was fun and I got in my 6 400s.. Just hope I didn't over due it and can recover before Moab on Saturday.

We ran back at a good pace and I picked it up the last half mile. Felt good.
6 Miles with 1.5 of Speed Work. 50 Minutes

Yesterday I did Yoga and ran an easy Cheesman recovery lap 4 Miles.
Massage tonight an a running rest day tomorrow.
Yes, loving the easy week.　

Running of the Green 7k

Ran the running of the Green 7K today. It's a fun race, 4.3 miles in Lodo the weekend before St. Patricks day. An odd distance the 7K 4.3 Miles. I ran it in 30:37, Zach beat me (first race!) 30:16, but there is a good story there. What made Zach's race even more impressive is the day before at the Thunderidge Track meet, he did an 11:28 2 Mile race with a 5:38 first mile (both PRs).

Also went to the Race with my sister Kim. This was the longest distance she has ever run. It was also her 36th Birthday. Happy Birthday Kim!

So we left our house about 8:30 and made it down to Lodo around 9ish, found a parking spot off wazee and got our stuff, waited a bit in the car and then made our way to the start with a stop at the porta-pottis of course.

First Mile

The start of the race was VERY congested. Zach and I were off to the side on 17th and Wazee and had to merge into the crowd before the start on Wazee. We crossed the line and had to walk a bit, lots of strollers, dogs, walkers, very casual runners. They really need a wave start. So Zach and I ran through the crowd picking our way trying to break free which wasn't really until we got to Coors Field. I kept checking to make sure Zach was with me and he was, a couple of times he took the lead to pick through the crowd. We did the first mile in 7:20 with a slow start. I wasn't sure Zach was going to go that hard, my goal was around 6:45 miles.

Mile 2
The second mile is up hill pretty much, 130 feet of elevation gain over the Platte River, I-25 and then up the big hill on the otherside of the highway. Zach surged ahead on the big hill, just took off from me and I had nothing to stay with him. He looked good and fresh and got about a 100 meter lead on me by the time we topped the hill. He was also kinda playing with the cones and running with a high kick like he was on a Cross Country fun run. I did the second mile in 7:20 thanks to the big hill, Zach was probably just under 7.

Mile 3
As we turned and headed down the hill, the crowd was really thinned out and you can let go a bit. Zach continued to pull away from me as we headed toward 20th. He was looking good, I pushed a bit harder but so did he, he was 200 meters ahead as we got to 20th. I figured he would probably finish a minute a head of me and I wasn't going to catch him. I had a good tempo pace going. I saw Kim as she was starting to hit the big hill, we waved, she had a big smile on her face. 6:42 the third mile, it was downhill, but there was a little problem there.

Just before the 3 mile point, as you go under the underpass, I was kinda zoned out and running hard, when I notice someone running the wrong way toward me. I did a double take and it was Zach. He was pointing at the ground and right in front of me was a timing chip. His chip had fallen off and he had run a hundred meters or so before he noticed it. He had to turn around and run back up the road against the flow of runners and get his chip. I felt so bad for him, that had to cost him at least a minute. I stopped in front of his chip and he bent down to pick it up (good timing on that). Then PLOW a guy ran right into the back of me. Better me than Zach I guess. As I passed the guy who plowed me he said Sorry. It was actually my fault though.

I said "Go Get 'em, don't worry about it ". He replied with "grrrr..." and took off and put a gap on me as we wound our way through Lodo to the finish.

Mile 4 and the finish.
As we headed to the finish, Zach pulled ahead a bit more. It is pretty flat on this mile, but a few turns. 6:49 for this mile. Ten a quick 6:22 pace to the finish with a nice kick for both of us. I had 4.39 on my Garmin, so the course might have been a bit long. Zach Beat me by 20 seconds, but it should have probably been 2 minutes with his chip.



Race Results



Garmin Watch Data for Race

After the race we hit the post race food and I grabbed a couple of beers. It was not nice out, in fact it started to snow. Zach got in the Cordoba's line and got some food. Then we went back to the car to warm up and back to the finish to meet Kim. She ran the race in 59:32. Under an Hour and dropped her pace from the 5k last week. Nice progress Kim!

Kim and I had a beer and some food and then it was cold and snowy so we went home. I didn't see any of my other runner friends, other than Jay who I saw in the porta potti line before the race start. Still it was a fun day and a fun race with Zach.

I ran this race over 2 minutes faster last year after I popped my calf at the 2 mile point. I think the course was longer this year. I do feel that I am in better shape and faster overall this year and "injury free" and this was a good tune up for Moab, so those are positives.

Easy week ahead for me with Moab 1/2 Marathon on Saturday
50 Miles last week.

Long Run 22.2 - Y to CC Park to Home

Ran from the Y to CC Park and then Home. 22.2 Miles. This will be my longest run before Boston.

The intention on this run was to Induce a "Death March". Mission Accomplished.

I took the light rail to work, Gina dropped me off at 9 mile. I took my waterpack and minimal accessories (cell phone), so I could run light. Water Pack and Gu.

I worked through lunch, would have been a nice duck pond run today. Sunny and 50. The weather carried over to the afternoon. Probably our best day of the year, upper 50's and sunny. Got to the Y at 2:30 and was running at 2:50. Wore a short sleeve shirt and didn't bring my gloves, could have used them at the end though.

I ran the usual route up 16th to Cheesman. My Garmin had trouble locking on, so the first mile was long and looks like it was slow but it wasn't, normal pace. I ran through Cheesman and down Franklin to Speer. I was feeling good, my pace was a bit slower, but I knew I had a long way to go and it's an uphill route, so I was good with it. I was a bit sore in spots from all the miles recently.

Got to the Country Club and headed toward Cherry Creek Mall, then on the Bike Path. Lots of bikes on the path. I was holding about an 8:20 pace comfortably, but this part is pretty flat. I ran on the cinder/trail next to the path where I could to save the pounding. Near 4 mile house there's a nice trail. I noticed they extended the bike path at the park off Monaco, I will have to take that route next time, it runs next to the creek instead of through the park.

I stopped at the Cook Park rec center and re-filled my water bottle and used the bathroom. The stretch from there to Illif is so long and boring, my least favorite of this route. It also starts to grind uphill. My pace slowed, I was starting to fatigue. I had 2 GU and 3 power gels, I don't like power gels, they make me kinda sick to my stomach, but that's all I had. I was getting hungry and burring calories. I took them at miles , 6, 10, 14, 16, 19

I ran through the Hampden Heights park area and started the uphill section, it was tough, a bit of downhill and then back up all the way to Parker. Got to CC Park and I was cooked, would have been only 16 miles to my house, but I wanted to push the death march and go for 22. I stopped and refilled my water at the park entrance and had another gu. Then headed toward the lake and the sunset downhill to the park. Ran through on one of my favorite trails then out and back to the lake.

At mile 17 I was hurting, but on my way home. You can see from my Garmin data how it is an uphill grind most of the way. Good for Boston? I hope. My pace was pathetic, I was definitely doing the death march, but kept pushing. I stopped at 19 and had my last GU. 2 flat miles and then a tough uphill mile to my house. As I got to the turn up the big hill at Memphis, Jill drove past and pulled over. She had just done a training run, we said hi, she asked me how I was doing and I said OK, 1 more mile to go. It was almost dark. She said well have fun on the hill, a steep half mile on Memphis.

I got home and I was so tired, fatigued, I think I had a fever from the swelling. My stomach was upset and I could not really eat dinner. I wanted some ibuprofen but my stomach was too upset. Gotta love the death march run.

I was so sore I couldn't sleep, everything I lay on hurt. My stomach finally settled and I ate a snack and took some ibuprofen and then slept good the rest of the night.

Garmin Watch Data for Run

22.2 Miles 3:15:30. The pace was at the slow end of my LSD pace, maybe too slow.
66.7 Miles in the last 6 days with 2 20 milers. That's a PR for a weeks mileage in 6 days.

Wash Park 7

Ran the wash park route today with the group.
No tempo run today since I am racing on Saturday. Also have a long run planned for tomorrow after work.
Nice easy 7 mile run with Tom, Craig, and Bob who caught us at 8th. Andre started with us but did Cheesman. He is having some back problems since his trip. His first run with the group in about a month. We did have fun giving him some 7 mile smack talk as he does for us.

It was mid 40's, sunny with some wind. No middle 3ers today. We ran pretty easy to the park, feels much different than the middle 3 gasping and breathing.
When we got to the edge of the park, Jeff was waiting for us, he had run around the Park at tempo and ran back with us. We did pick up the pace a notch when Jeff joined us.

The last mile from Colfax, Bob picked up the pace and I went with him, though Tom and Jeff were just behind us. I had fresh legs today and felt good so I hung with Bob on the last mile and felt comfortable at around a 7 minute pace.

During the run, we were talking about Moab and where everyone would place within the group. Kind of fun. Of course everyone is sandbagging and Scott will win hands down, but could be interesting between Jeff, Bob, Steve and myself.
Makes me want to go for it, now, but we'll see on race day.

7 Miles 54 Minutes

MHS Track 9X800 Intervals

Ran 9 X 800 Intervals today at MHS Track

Goal was 2:55 per 800 with 3:00 recovery
I struggled today to get my 2:55 goal, the first one was my slowest

Splits were
300,256,256,257,258,258,256,256,255

Tom and I ran out to the Track at 11:45 so I could get back to work by 1:30.
Tom did 3 1 mile repeats at a 7 minute pace. Then left as I was finishing #5.

Did 1 more solo and then Chipman showed up and did the last 3 with me. He was running 2:40 though. Then we ran the 2 miles back to the Y together.

Temperature in the 50's, Cloudy and kind of windy, but not bad for a March Track day.

9.5 Miles 1:20:00 with 4.5 Miles of Speed Work

Wash Park 7

Got up this morning and went to Yoga at 7 am. I was sore getting up and walking to the gym. More sore than previous long runs I think. First time since Boston training my calf's felt sore and tight. Also both hips. Nice Yoga session, I felt better after, I could feel some of the tightness working out and stretched good. I told Kelly after class I thought the poses we were doing helped me recover quicker.

When I went to the Y at lunch, I was tight again, but not as bad as the morning, it was kinda cold and cloudy. I had a pang of regret about running today and staying on schedule with another tough week, but I just set it aside and set the wheels in motion.

I ran with Jeff, Tom, Jay and Tim. Jeff went around wash park. The rest of us did the 7. Jay pushed the pace most of the way, which was good to help me recover without being a slug (I think). Tom pushed it a couple of places too and I sprinted the downhill at the end to toughen the quads.

7 Miles 55:16

Long Run 20 - CC Park, Dam, Golf Course

Did a 20 mile long run today. Ran my "usual" 20 mile route, from home through CC Park, on the other side of CC Dam, over by Kennedy Golf Course then back toward Parker and home. I ran this 4 weeks ago with Matt with an inch of snow falling when I slipped.

Finally a nice day weather wise and traction wise for a long run. Temperatures in the 50's with sun when I finished. I started at 8:20, it was kinda chilly but I went with a short sleeve shirt which was fine, but I wish I would have had some gloves for the first 1/2 of the run.

I got into a good pace the first 6 miles (8:15), felt good. When I got to about mile 4, the sun went away and fog rolled in. I refilled my water bottle and headed up the hill to the dam road. I lost my pace there and looking at my splits I never really got it back, fell off pace for the rest of the run, still under 8:30 which was my goal.

The DAM running was today, so I ran through the race start area. My sister Kim was running it and her friend Janice working one of the booths, but I didn't see either of them as I ran through and scanned the crowd. It was a bit congested. The Dam was foggy, you couldn't really see the great views from up there.

I fell off the fast pace, which was surprising because usually the downhill on the north side of the dam are fast miles for me. But I did have a comfortable pace within my range and felt good so I went with it. I took gu at miles 5, 9, 14.5 and 17.5. Those gave me a boost. Filled my water bottel at 6.5 and 17.5.

I felt good from mile 16 on, really good. Despite the hills. That's encouraging because previous long runs up those hills I felt like I bonked some with Matt pulling away from me. I slowed some, but my pace for those miles was really good.

I wanted to improve on the last 20 and I did, took 4 minutes off what I ran 4 weeks ago. Finished in 2:49:06. 40 seconds slower than I ran it in August 2009 training for St. George. So I feel good about it. Also felt good after, felt like I could have done a couple more easy miles (but I didn't). The sun came out at the end of the run for the last 4 miles, maybe that's what helped me pick it up. That and the Beetles song Here Comes the Sun played on my MP3 player at Random but at a good time.

Garmin Watch Data

20 Miles 2:49:06

Good week of training, 54 Miles for the Week with 2 speed workouts and a long run.
Another tough week coming up.
6 Weeks to Boston

Golf Course 7

Ran the Golf Course loop today at lunch.
Craig C and Jay ran it with me, Pete C went the duckpond. Pete hasn't been running with us that much. First time in 3 weeks.

Temperature upper 40's, but cloudy, with a bit of a headwind coming back from the west.

I was a bit tired and sore today, kind of sluggish. I had a long massage last night and it was good, but think it might have made me more sore today working all the stuff out of the muscles. Plus this is 7 days running in a row, with 3 speed days in there, so I'm due for a day off.

Rest day tomorrow, but then some serious miles next week starting Sunday.

7 Miles 58 Minutes

Middle 3 - 18:28

Ran the Middle 3 at lunch today. 18:28 for the Middle 3 Tempo part of the run. Felt Good, should have been faster though.

I was the only middle 3er today. The rest of the group did Cheesman. 5 of them.
Chipman came out with his fast shoes, but went from the middle 3 start to Cheesman and did some fartlek's there, then met me after the middle 3 and we ran back to the Y together.


Nice day, 56 degrees with some sun. Even Kamper was out today, so it must be spring.


Garmin Watch Data for Middle 3

7 Miles 50:28

4 Mile Yo Yo & Yoga

Did a 4 mile recovery run at lunch and then went to the 12:30 Yoga class.

Left the Y at 11:45 with Tom and Jay and ran out to the end of Cheesman with them.
Trurned around and ran back down 16th, ran a couple of blocks with Bob and Matt then headed back to the Y. Got back to the Y and did a few blocks along Lincoln to kill time before Yoga.

Good Yoga class. Jay's wife Gina was in the class, kinda funny, I told her I just ran with her hubby.

I adjusted my Boston schedule, so this will be a 6 day week with 54 Miles, but I'm feeling pretty good.

4 Miles 32:33 and Yoga.

MHS Track 8X800 Intervals

Went to the Manual HS Track at lunch and ran 8X800 Intervals

Splits were
255, 257, 253,251,255,254,255,254

Goal was 255, made it on all but 1. The 257 was with a 2 minute recovery (like last week), the 251 was with a 4 minute recover the rest were 3 minute recovery .

Nice day, 50's and sun, clear blue skies. Felt like spring out there. Short Sleeve Shirt, which I almost took off.

Craig and Matt ran from the Y with me. Craig did 5X400, Matt did an easy 400 and left (still recovering from his ultra).

Bob was already on the track running mile repeats.

They left and I was solo. Alicia dropped by on her way back from the golf course and did a recovery lap with me then left.

Easy run back with a stop at the hospital for a drink.
9 Miles, 1 Hour 16 Minutes

Wash Park 7 Miles

Ran the Wash Park 7 Mile run with the group at lunch today.
It felt good to run on a Monday on dry road and some trail. Sun was out, it was in the 40's.

Craig C, Tom, Jay, Bob and myself ran today. We saw Matt briefly, he gave us the info on his 50k race briefly before we left. There's a post on the pickled site with some info on his race.

Craig and Tom took the bike path option. Bob decided to run around wash park so that left Jay and I to do the whole route.

It was 42 degrees with some sun and a bit of a breeze heading back. Jay took off his shirt and ran about the last 4 miles without it. I had on a long sleeve shirt and gloves, it was chilly coming back. He said he was hot, I told him he might have malaria or something because it was way too cold even for Colorado to be running without a shirt. A lady on 16th said something about me having gloves on and jay without a shirt.

So Jay gets the 2010 first guy to run without a shirt award.

7 Miles 57 Minutes.
I went to Yoga class this morning.

Easy Recovery Run with the Dogs

Took the dogs out for a run at the CC Park dog area this morning. Drove to the old library and ran from there. Ran real slow and easy, sore from yesterday, mainly my knee. Dogs were tugging and there was some ice on the trail, so I walked through some of that.

The dog area was really muddy, good thing I wore my trail shoes. Dogs had fun. Had to get back by 10, so short run. 40 minutes or so, out and back.

Last day of February, a tough month for training with all the snow we got, especially on the weekends. Still I pretty much made all my runs scheduled with a couple of adjustments.

40 Miles last week
179 Miles for the Month
376 Miles for the Year

Snowman Stampede 10 Mile Race - 1:09:41

Ran the Snowman Stampede at Chattfield Today. 1:09:41 a PR for 10 miles..


PR from same race last year were I did 1:10:32 on same course.
I finished 45th overall, 6th in my age group.

I felt good at the start, got into sub 7 mile pace which I could adjust with the Garmin. I ran the first 5 miles under 7 except mile 3. My goal was 6:55 I ended up 6:58.

I felt good going up the hills in the first half. I thought of Boston and also of my hill repeats. I had looked at my splits from last year and knew I was ahead of that.

There's a nice downhill as you turn onto the dirt road, I passed a lot of people there. I caught up to a lady in pink with pigtails that Alicia had pointed out before the race. She had recovered from a really bad bike accident. As I passed her she said "nice job". I talked to her after the race, she finished just a bit behind me. She was really nice and I admire her attitude and ability to come back from such a bad experience.

The dirt road had mud and ice on it, it was in bad shape and everyone had to slow down there both directions. I thought about how I'd been running on a lot of snow and ice lately, some people almost stopped, I though "Treadmillers". :)

When I hit the uphill and switchbacks after mile 5.5 I felt myself slow down and fatigue. There were some really bad ice and snow packed spots. One lady behind me kept yelling "Ice". I kinda bonked a bit. There was a guy breathing really hard in my ear, that I had passed on the downhill. I kept thinking come on pass me back, because I was sick of his breathing. This was my slowest mile. There was a snow packed section that slowed everyone down again.

As we got to the top and headed down, I was recovering and trying to get my pace back under 7 when I got passed by a pack of 4 guys, one of them was the breather. 2 of the guys were in my age group. I felt kinda down at this point that I lost pace on the hills and didn't recover quicker, I also thought a sub 1:10 was out of reach. I did get my pace back down to 7:00 but did not feel as good as before. The breather was a young guy and he pulled off the race about a mile ahead for a bathroom stop.

The last 2 miles was really sloppy and slick in spots, almost dangerous. I caught up to a lady running but could not quite pass her. I followed her through this section. There was a lot of water, mud, ice, floating ice and 5 mile walkers going really slow, a couple of strollers. We navigated through, I realized a sub 1:10 was doable with a couple of sub 7 minute miles. The lady I was following must of been on the same goal cause she sped up too.

With 1 mile to go I was right at 1:13. So I pushed it, the last mile was my fastest 6:34. When I got to the last quarter mile. Alicia was there, she had finished the 5 mile race. She gave me some encouragement and I passed the lady and had a good kick up the last hill (later told her good finish and great job). I saw Mark B there at the finish, he gave me a boost as I saw I was going to make my goal on the finish clock.

Race Results


Alicia Ran the 5 Mile and won her age group with a sub 38 5 mile. Congratulations Alicia.
Saw Mark there, he was doing a training run and knew a lot of people running, we chatted about running and Boston a bit.

Saw some other familiar faces there too, race season is starting and spring is around the corner, got that feeling today. Tera Moody won the women's 10 mile, didn't know she was there till I saw the results.

Garmin Watch Data for Race

Congratulations to Matt and his brother Mark who ran the Mount Cheaha 50k (31 Mile) Train Ultra in Alabama today. They finished 25th with a time of 5:45, a tough race. I will post something on the prostates site when they post the results.

Also got to see Zach run a mile time trial at SHHS He did a 5:42, finishing second in the mile wave with a strong kick at the end (there were a couple of strong milers that did not make it). This was after he ran a 2:29 800 time trail. Nice work Zach.

So a good day for Running!

Yoga Cross Train

Took a rest day today, went to Yoga at lunch. Susan's advanced class, I took it easy though, no overstretching. The class was packed. I was way in a corner where I could take it easy.

Resting my legs for tomorrow's 10 mile race.

That's 3 yoga classes for me in 5 days. That might be a PR.
Oh yeah, no PR's in Yoga, just internal fulfillment and enlightenment.

Na-muh-stay

Around Wash Park - 9.5

Ran from the Y around Wash Park and back at lunch today. 9.5 Miles, 1:16:58

I don't run this route a lot because it's takes a longer lunch and usually nobody in the group wants to go beyond 7.

I had it on my training schedule to get 40 miles in the week with the 10 Mile Race on Saturday (Snowman Stampede).

I left the Y with Jeff, Tom and Craig C, we ran easy and Craig M caught us about 1/2 way up 16th. Jeff Tom and the Craigs went down the bike path. No middle 3er's today.

Chipman caught up to us at Speer as they were splitting off, he ran with me to the Park the edge of the park. He and Jeff were both getting over colds. Tom's still recovering from his fall and Craig C just got back from Yllowstone.

I ran around the park and back Solo. The path at the park was very sloppy, lots of slush and water and mud. Some Ice/Snow spots too. I held a pretty good pace around 8 minutes, I jumped on the road in a few spots. Lots of runners on the path and the road. Nice day, 44 with some sun. A small snow storm was supposed to hit at lunch but didn't make it here yet.
Got back to the Y in 1:16:58, looked at my logs and that's the fastest I've run that route by about a minute, but it's not a common route. I only ran it twice last year. I have a few more on the schedule before Boston

Garmin Watch Data for Run

10 Mile race on Sunday, so rest day tomorrow.

Treadmill Intervals 7 X 800

Ran treadmill intervals at the Y at lunch.
Did 7X800 at a 2:56 pace with a 400 recovery.
Started with 1 mile warm up and a finished with a 2 mile cool down.
Did a 1/2 mile at 1/2 marathon pace 6:55 during the cool down.
8 Miles total 66 Minutes

First time to use the new treadmills at the Y. They have some nice features (fans, tv's) but I don't like the controls and displays as much as the others. I messed up the workout 3 times. The transition from fast to slow was awkward.

I drove past the Manual HS track this morning and there was 4 inches of snow on it still, which I figured but thought I'd check just in case, so I did treadmill intervals instead.

I had an acupuncture treatment this afternoon with Alison. It went well, my calfs are doing ok, mainly preventative. She found a few tight spots (as does Tara the masseuse) and treated them with needles and electricity. She gave my right knee a little extra attention too with some deeper needles and more electricity. She told me I was tough for taking all that punishment, I told her it will be worth it if I can run and train without injury. They were sore after.

Wash Park 7

Ran the Wash Park 7 mile run with the group today.

It was cold mid 20's, but the sun was out and it didn't snow as much as they said it would last night. Still I'm sick of running on snow, one of the downfalls of training for an April Marathon in Denver I suppose.

Matt, Jay and Bob ran with me. Matt did the Cheesman 4, but Bob and Jay went on to Wash Park with me. Picked up the pace a bit on the way back which was good to help me stretch out and prepare for the rest of the week running. I stopped to tie my shoe lace (an ongoing problem with my current Asics) and they were gone. I told them "Jay and Bob Strike Back"

I was sore from yesterday, but not as sore as I was yesterday after the run. I seriously crashed and had no energy or motivation the rest of the day. Laid on the couch and watched the Olympics.

I went to Kelly's 7:00 yoga class this morning after a good nights sleep. It felt good to stretch some stuff out, work my core and get the blood pumping. I'm sure that helped me run at lunch. As I was walking to the Y in the morning in the dark and cold and ice everywhere, I was thinking I don't think I will be able to run today but felt better after Yoga and ready to go at lunch.

7 Miles 56 Minutes.

20 Mile Long Run - Snow

Ran my 20 mile long run today. Outside in the snow. There was 2 - 4 inches of snow on the paths most of the run. I put on my Yak Trax and ran about 9:15 this morning. I briefly considered a treadmill at the rec center, but I do not think I could run a treadmill for 20 miles.

I really didn't know if I could run 20 miles in that snow either. I thought maybe run for 3 hours and see where I was.

This was one of the hardest long runs I think I've ever done. It was very painful. I've never run over about 7 miles in snow that deep. My pace was slow and got slower. My legs and feet were so sore and fatigued after the first hour, but I kept pushing. I had my Garmin, but my pace was so slow, I didn't really worry about it.

I altered my 20 mile course to start the same through CC Park to the DAM road and on the other side of the dam, but rather than take the Kennedy leg over to CC Trail, I looped around the Park and then down to the trail by the camping area, around tower loop and then back along the beach to the woods, then looped through the trail and back onto the patch and home the way I came. A good 20 mile course, especially in the summer where it's hot, but no so much with the snow. At one point in the woods, there was a mile path with about 6 inches of snow built up, that was some tough running and wore me out.

The last 5 miles was tough and I was really fatigued and drained of calories. I took some extra Gu and had 3 of them in the last 5 miles.

The last mile and a half from the Club House to my house, I took off the yak trax because they plowed the sidewalk. That was tough running too though, it seemed so hard and difficult to run on the concrete after 18+ miles of slipping on the snow.


20 Miles

City Park Golf Course - 7 Miles

I ran the City Park Golf Course route today, 7 Miles about 56 Minutes.

Jay and Matt ran too, Jay did the duck pond, Matt did the 7 with me.
Jay's been in San Diego with 72 degree running weather.

It was cold, 20's, cloudy in Denver with about 2 inches of snow from the night before.
The driving roads were clear but the sidewalks, paths and park roads were hit and miss, some dry spots but a lot of slick or snowy spots.

We ran the road down the North side of the Golf course.
The sidewalks around the Cafes on 17th were OK too.

OK, I'm ready for spring running to come back. Not looking so good this weekend. 20 planned for Sunday with snow in the forecast.

Middle 3 - 18:40

Ran the middle 3 at lunch today. 18:40 for the 3 mile tempo portion of the run.
I was the only one to run it today. My goal was 18:30.

Jeff went up tempo around the park (.9.5),
Craig M did a middle 4,
Tom did the 7 easy, still recovering from his crash on the ice last week.
Tom has a huge bruise on his back and butt from that fall.
Matt started easy with Tom and then picked up the pace, then ran the last mile hard, just ahead of me.

Cool day, upper 30's and cloudy, a slight headwind coming back

Running back on 16th, there were a ton of people lined up along the road and wrapped around a couple of blocks. There were lined up to see President Obama at the Fillmore on Colfax for a democratic fund raiser.

Garmin Watch Data for Run

7 Miles 50:40

Yo-Yo - Yoga

I mixed up my workout today a bit. I am running 6 days this week and had a 4 mile recovery run on the schedule but I also wanted to go to yoga at 12:30

So I ran 4 miles at lunch and then went to the 12:30 Yoga class.

In order to make the 12:30 class and get 4 miles in, I left the Y at 11:50, ran up 16th to Park, then back down to meet the running Group around Grant then back up 16th to Cheesman Park, then Back down to the Y. Hence the Yo-Yo Run and then the Yoga Class (where I walked the dog).

Kind of a different run. I saw different runners than normal since I was a bit earlier.
Saw Scott flying up 16th on his way to a 10 mile tempo.

On my way back to meet the group, I ran with Anita from the Y a bit. I've seen her run for a while, she runs with another guy and they have a pretty good pace, but run earlier than our group. So I introduced myself and told her she had a good pace and should run with us at 12 when she has a chance, told her some of the routes and workouts we do. She sounded interested, we'll see.

The group today consisted of just Bob, I turned around and ran with him to Cheesman at a good pace.
Then back to the Y at an easy pace. Just in time to change shirts, fill my water bottle and get to the Yoga class.

Class was good, I was nice and warmed up and felt more flexible and energized. The massage last night helped, I did have a few sore spots (hip and knee form the track work yesterday). Talked to Susan a bit as I was leaving the Y about Yoga and Running and Training.

4 Miles 32 Minutes and a Yoga Class

Track on - 6X800

Ran 800 repeats on the Manual High School track at lunch today.

6 800's. Splits were 2:55,257,2:48,2:54,2:53,2:53. My target was 2:55.

The 2:57 was because I took a 2 minute recovery after the first one, I realized I needed 3 minutes.
The 2:48 was with a long recovery and I was chasing Bob and Craig down the track the first lap and ran with Bob the 2nd lap. That one hurt. The rest were all good tempo/pace .

Craig C and Alicia ran to the track with me. Craig did 4X400's. Alicia ran around the track easy, she had done a tough Bike workout in the morning.

Bob joined us at the track. Surprisingly he has not done any track work recently, he doesn't join his running club for track workouts. He ran around the track at an uptempo pace.

Craig M showed up for the end of the workout and did a couple of 800's. I accused him of showing up at the end of my workouts on purpose, but it was good to have someone to finish with. He, Bob and I ran back to the Y at Bob's pace. We might have set a post track workout run back record. I charged the downhill at the end to toughen the quads.

It was a really nice day for track work. Mid 30's with Sunshine. Chilly at first but once at the track it was a nice temperature.

There was one icy/snow spot on the track where it was in the shadow of the scoreboard.

Good luck to Lisa, Bob's wife who entered the hospital for chemo treatments for Leukemia today. Our thoughts and prayers are with you Bob and Lisa.

7.5 Miles 61 Minutes with 3 Miles of Speed work
I have a 55 minute massage scheduled tonight.

Wash Park 7

Ran the Wash Park 7 mile run at lunch today.

Only Craig C showed up from the group. President's day is a holiday for a lot of the runners, especially those that work for the state and the feds. The Y was pretty empty too.

So it was just Craig C and I, we ran an easy 7.

We talked about the Olympics and he told me about the time he ran Boston back in 1979. He did 3:03 and finished last in the big group they had that did Boston that year. I was in the 8th grade then.

I thought I would be all fresh legs and running strong after an easy week last week and an easy snow run yesterday, but I guess it doesn't work that way.

7 Miles 56 Minutes.

Congratulations to my Sister Kim and her lifelong friend Janiece who just ran their first 5k yesterday at Wash park, despite the 4 inches of snow. Pictured below.
Way to go ladies, keep it up! ROTG is a month away!

10.5 Mile Snow Run

My plan for the day was a 10 mile tempo run with a target 7 min/mile pace.

I woke up this morning to 4 inches of snow on the ground and it was still snowing hard. It was cloudy and cold, in the 20's.

Obviously not ideal conditions for a tempo run. So I decided to run in the snow and push the "snow pace" as best I could.

I put on my Yax Trax and headed out about 9:00, it was still snowing, but not quite as hard.

I did an out and back from my house to the Porta Potti at the 5 1/2 mile mark.
The Yak Trax did good for the conditions, but I could not get a good pace going, it was a light snow, but it slowed me down to a 9 minute mile pace although I was working relatively hard or so I thought (should have had a HRM on).

I did a few miles in the 8:30 range where it was flat and open in the park. There were spurts where I felt really good and in a zone. There were spurts where I felt sluggish and seriously doubted I would have been able to maintain a tempo pace. A bit discouraging considering it was an easy week and I had only run 4 days this week.


On the way out at about 4 1/2 miles I saw a spot in the snow where someone had fallen on the ice underneath. It was by the new bathrooms they built on the south side of the park. I picked up a pair of sunglasses they had dropped in the snow close by. I looked around and no-one was in site to chase down. About that time the sun started peaking out of the clouds and I didn't have my sunglasses, so I took that as a sign from God for me to keep them.

After the turn around, I was running at about the 6 mile mark and to my right was a coyote running next to me about a 100 yards at a good pace. Effortless for him. He was beautiful, he pulled ahead of me and crossed the path ahead giving me a couple of looks over his shoulder as he ran into the brush.

The last couple of miles to the house, the sun was out and the snow was melting quick where the sun was hitting it. The Yax Trax were hitting more and more concrete. I debated stopping to take them off, but it was hit and miss, so I kept them on through the end of the run, but I had to run on the snow off the path in a few places. Amazing how quick it can melt in the dry Colorado air and direct sun this time of year.

Garmin Watch Data for Run

10.5 Miles 1:36:58

Short/Easy Week 4 Day 34.5 Miles
Week 7 of Boston Training, 9 Weeks to Go...

283.5 Miles for the Year.

City Park Duck Pond 5

Ran the City Park Duck Pond route today with the group at lunch.

Ran with both Craig's and Andre. Andre's on his way to Africa for a couple of weeks, he'll be running in the heat, lucky dog.

Nice day though, sunny. Easy run.

I modified my Boston schedule to make this an easy week and to accommodate a couple of races.

5 Miles 43:55

Middle 3 - 18:50

Ran a mediocre 18:50 Middle 3 today. 15 Seconds slower than last week.

I did recover quicker and ran back faster than earlier, also had less traffic stops..
It is what it is. Roads were dry, the path was snowy/icy so we ran on the raod.

I ran the Middle 3 with Chipman, kind fun running with him for a change. He holds the Middle 3 PR of 15:50, he was a bit younger then and faster. He's still fast, but not quite in peak shape yet. I think he held back a bit too.

Craig C did a Middle 3 also, Andre did a Middle 7 at normal pace.

I messed up my Garmin at the Alameda traffic stop coming back, so we went off Dave's time.

7 Miles, 50:50, 18:50 on the Middle 3

Mile High Hill Repeats X 10

I concluded my 6 weeks of hill repeat training today with a grand finale of 10 repeats (up from 8 last week).

I took yesterday off after the 20 mile long run. It was a good day to take off, it was cold and blowing snow at lunch. I was still fatigued from the 20 and wanted to be "fresh" for this workout.

Word is one of the lunch time runners Tom took a bad spill on the way to wash park and banged his head on the ice. He's OK but a little dinged. He had to miss the hill workout today though, but should be back at it on Thursday.
Speaking of which, I was sore from my fall on Sunday, neck and shoulders from the whiplash.

Back to the hills.

I met Alicia outside the Post building and we ran to the Hill, no other runners made the 11:30 trek. She had never been to the hill, aka Monoxide Hill (she had seen Pete M the day before who refered to it though). Anyway she did the first hill repeat with me, we jogged down and then she ran back. I joked with her to stay in our group you had to do 1 hill workout, a middle 3, track work, a group long run and a mountain run every year. I did the first repeat a bit slow, the bottom 1/2 of the hill was clear, but the top half had a couple of inches of snow on the path. I stayed on the path and did a 2:23.

The 2nd repeat I did solo and ran on the road, back to the 2:14 range. The road has a little curve with a knook in it that adds some distance so you can stop at the no parking sign instead of the light. Mile High Rules.

When I got to the bottom, Matt and Craig C were waiting, they had run over from the Y. Matt did 5 repeats with me (Craig 4). Chasing Matt up the hill sped me up a bit, he was doing them under 2:00. Craig M showed up later and did a couple, then Matt and the Craigs ran back, leaving me with 3 hill repeats to go. I was staying in the 3:15-3:18 range.

I took some gatorade and a granola bar snack to the hill with me. Which helped It was a long workout, over 2 hours with 12 miles, 6.5 miles of hill work.

I did the last 3 OK, a bit slow on #9 2:24. 2:19 on my 10th one. I was glad to have that workout done. I ran back to the Y easy, but pretty smooth a few hills on the way back uphill of course.

When I put it on my schedule I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do all 6 hill workouts on Tuesdays. Especially the last one (10) with work and the weather, but I did and I feel good about it. Hopefully it will pay dividends in Moab and Boston.

On to the track next week.

I am looking at my schedule trying to fit in the Snowman Stampede (10 mile race), the Running of the Green (ROTG) 7k , Moab and of course Boston without sacrificing a long run or speed workout. I might take an easy week this week and run long next, looks like I'd need to do a mid week long run before ROTG.

Long Run 20 - CC Dam

Ran my first 20 mile long run today in my Boston training plan.
Matt ran with me. He's 3 weeks away from a 31 mile ultra so this was his last long run to prepare.
We ran from my house and did my 20 Mile route, through CC Park, on the other side of the Dam along 225, under 225 to Kennedy Golf course then out the CC Trail to a turn around point and back around the Dam to Parker Road and then home. A very Hilly 20 mile route, especially the last 5 miles. A lot of uphills

There was about 1/8 inch of snow on the ground when we started with light snow falling, little wind from the North, temperature around 30. Not great but could be worse. We started off a bit slower than last week. 3 1/2 Miles into the run I was running along the path and boom, slipped on some ice beneath the snow I didn't know was there. I landed on my left forearm and legs, not too bad a fall, kinda stunned me. Matt said i got a lot of air and looked like Charlie Brown kicking a football when Lucy pulls it out. I shook it off and started running again, the adrenaline made us run fast for a bit, I think that was our fastest mile.

There were a few other slick spots, we each slipped a couple of times, but caught ourselves.

When we got to the turn around, point near Illiff on the path, we talked a bit how we were both fatigued and feeling it more than the 19 we did last week. This route is tougher and the snow made a difference. We had a steady snow the whole way, but it warmed up some and was slushy in spots. There was close to a half inch in some places when we finished.

We made it through the hills in the snow, Matt ran ahead on every one and waited for me at the top. He's in great shape and will do well in his ultra (if his brother does not wear him out in the first 10 miles). I kind of got into a death march on the last couple of hills, muscles tightened and didn't have the speed or the push I should have.

Total time for me was 2:53:50, Matt was closer to 2:45.

20 Miles, 2:53:50 (8:41 Pace) About 10 seconds per mile slower than last weeks 19.
Garmin Watch Data

6 Weeks into the plan. 52 Miles this week.
10 Weeks to Boston, 6 Weeks to Moab

City Park Golf Course - 7

Ran the 7 Mile City Park Golf Course Loop today at Lunch.

Nice day, sunny 40's.

Ran with Craig M and Andre. Craig went for the duck pond 5 mile route.
Andre and I ran the Golf Course at an easy pace, but faster than I would have run it solo. He pulled me along a bit. I felt fatigue from the weeks training and the 50 mile weeks. Rest Day tomorrow.

Garmin Watch Data for Run

7 Miles 56:53

7 Mile with Middle 3 Tempo Run

Ran the Middle 3 today at lunch. Nice, in the 40's and the sun came out just before lunch, snow flurries in the morning.

Ran it with Jay, his first middle 3 in a while, he did good but wanted some competition (Craig and Tom).

I ran the 3 miles in 18:35, a bit slower than last week. I
felt good the whole way though, like I could maintain the pace and wasn't pushing to my limit, like I felt last week.

I did get 4 traffic stops and 1 shoe tie at the mile mark. Current Asics laces are different and seem to get loose easier, need to check them before a fast run or race.

Easy run there and back. Good Run
Craig M did a middle 4 and Scott and Chipman went around Wash Park.

7 Miles 50:35

Mile High Hill Repeats X 8

Ran the Mile High Hill Repeat workout today at lunch. 8 Hill repeats. Week 5 of Boston Training and Week 5 of hill repeats.

Craig M and I left the Y at 11:45, when we got to the hill, Tom, Ted and Craig C had already done a couple of repeats.

Tom did 5 repeats and Craig C did 6.

Craig M did 6 with me. He did them around 2:10. I was a bit slower at 2:13 - 2:20 range.

I did the last 2 by myself with a break between. #7 was the slowest at 2:20.

At the top of the hill, there was a group of workers smashing down a concrete wall with sledge hammers outside the Mexican restaurant. They were swinging sledge hammers, shoveling gravel and throwing concrete into a trailer right where we usually run. I could hear Ronald Regans voice as I ran by in the road, "Mr. Rodriquez tear down this wall".
Craig said when he and Tom ran past the first time a guy stepped in front of them and just started swinging a sledge hammer at the wall (before the truck and trailer was there). Funny the things you experience running...
　
Running back to the Y, I pushed it just a bit to stay under an 8 minute pace and run back a negative split (uphill) from the run out which was an easy warm up run.
When I got back to the Y, I was toast. Saw Jay and told him to stick a fork in me.

Garmin Watch Data

Long workout 10.86 miles 1:41 including Rest between repeats.

Massage tonight and Rest Day Tomorrow.

Wash Park 7 Recovery

Ran the Wash Park 7 mile route with the group at lunch today.
We ran the route a bit faster than I was looking for in recovery run, but that's the price you pay for running with the pack.

6 of us (Matt, Tom, Jay, Jeff, Andre and myself) did the 7 miles around an 8 minute pace. At times Matt would pull ahead of the group, showing no signs of soreness from yesterday. After the run he said he felt it. Jay was first to touch the pole today, no challengers. :)

Loosened up a bit coming back into a headwind. Nice day 45, sun, winds about 10 mph.
7 Miles 55 Minutes

Garmin Watch Data for Run

Went to Yoga this morning. Kelly's class. Good workout to strech out some of the sore muscles.
Right knee is still sore, more sore from yesterday's long run. A few of the yoga poses stressed it a bit too much so I had to back off.

Before class I got ont the calf stretcher at the Y and got on it wrong and flipped it up and meyself forward. Of course when I fell forwarded, I banged my sore knee on it. Embarassing (made a loud noise as I was dancing around it trying to keep my balance) and painful

Lost another runner on our Prostates Relay team, Pete M has a conflict. That means we are down 3 runners now.

Long Run 19 at Cherry Creek Park

Ran a long run at Cherry Creek Park this morning. 19.1 Miles Total 2:43:09.

Matt met me at my house and we left about 9:30. Matt's training for an Ultra 50k in February so this was a good training run for him too. Temps were around 40, a bit overcast, but warmed up and the sun came out for most of the run. The plan was to meet Alicia on the other side (west) of the Park and run a few miles with her and then back for the 19.

We ran through the Piney Creek Neighborhood, down by the old library and the creek and then into the Park. Kind of into the wind, hands were chilly, but holding a good 8:15 pace as we warmed up. We made our way over to the bike path and then to the porta-potti just past the 5 mile mark. Stopped there for Gu, water and a bathroom break at 10:20.

Then we ran to the beach area and met up with Alicia, we were 6 1/2 miles into the 19. She brought us each a punch gatorade. (Thanks). That hit the spot. Alicia was dressed warm with fleece and said she'd like to shed a layer after she warmed up, she wanted a 2 hour 14 mile run. So we ran out by the Marina and across the base of the Dam on a nice trail that's there. It goes about 2/3 across the lake and stops, so we did an out and back. Then ran back to Alicia's car at West Middle school. We were hold about an 8:20 pace even with the uphill.

Alica dropped some stuff off at her car and based on the Garmin we were at 9 miles, so I planned a 5 mile out and back to the other side of the park, and then Alicia was going to drive Matt and I back home. I misunderstood that Alicia thought we'd run past her car a couple of times to refuel, so she didn't pack much water or Gu. More about that later...

We had a good run over to the cinder trail and down to butterfly hill, around it and back to the road over to one of my favorite trails through the trees. Today however, the trail was ice packed from the snow, so not so good running. Alicia asked if we should turn around (my first clue that she wanted to loop back to her car). I said just a bit further and it clears up some, which it did. Then we ran over by the boat ramp and along the swim beach to the other side of the lake. A nice little trail through there, again icy so we got on the road.

When we got to the Tower loop, Alicia asked how we got back to her car and I said the way we came but with the road. She thought we would cross over and run back the short way. This is where we realized we misunderstood, she was out of fuel and we were 6 miles away from her car taking the road back, she was concerned she'd crash. So she climbed up the rocks to the Dam and ran back the 2 miles along the Dam road. I felt so bad, that road is narrow, but has great views and not too much traffic on a Sunday. In retrospect I should have known when she dropped everything off at her car and asked to turn back a couple of times. I also wish Matt and I had run back with her on the Dam.

Matt and I were 13 miles into our 19 and about 6 miles from my house so we headed back As we ran back we could see Alicia running on the top of the Dam road. It was an impressive site with the views in the background. Talked to her later and she said it was a great run back and she got in her 14, so all is well.

Matt and I worked back to the boat ramp where the water was shut off, so we headed up to the park entrance to refill our water, which has a pretty steep long hill. Then home along Parker which has a huge hill leading to Bellview. Matt charged up that hill, where I fell off pace. He also charged the hill leading up to chambers. He is really strong running the hills and in great shape overall.

We got to my neighborhood and I was a 1/2 mile short on the 19, so we ran around by Laredo and the park and then through the neighborhood ending at 19.1. An 8:30

Garmin Watch Data for Run

That give me 50 miles for the week (my first 50 mile week of my Boston Training) and 197 Miles for January. That's a really good month for me. Most miles I've every logged this early in the year. Hope I can stay healthy and on schedule or close to it.

Thanks for the Run Alicia and Matt!

City Park Golf Course 7

Ran the city park Golf Course 7 Mile route today. Nice recovery run after a tough week.

Weather was nicer, sunny in the 40's, no wind. Nice to have sun on the run, we are so spoiled in Colorado, 3 cloudy days in a row and we get anxious for the sun.

Good group today, Andre, Bob, Pete, Craig C, Dave, Matt, Jeff and myself.
Bob went around Wash Park.

Pete, Craig and Dave did the duck pond.

Andre, Jeff, Matt and myself did the Golf Course. Nice run, at a decent pace. Haven't done that run in a while.

Ran past the Café's on 17th, nobody's outside this time of year. Reminded me of summer.
Rest day tomorrow and then 19 on Sunday.

7 Miles 56 Minutes

Middle 3 - 18:21

Ran my First Middle 3 Tempo run of 2010 today. 18:21
My goal was 18:30 so I beat that, with a little help with the traffic lights and Jay.

I was the only one to run the middle 3 today. Craig C ran out with me, but didn't go hard.
Tom and Jeff went around wash park for 9.5, Craig ran back with them. Scott went around wash park at tempo pace. Jay got there late and ran some with Tom/Jeff/Craig, then doubled back to meet me at Downing about 6 / 10 of mile from the finish.

Jay started running about a half block ahead, so it gave me someone to chase through the last half mile and a boost that brought me under 18:30. Thanks Jay. We had a good kick up the last hill to the finish under a 6 minute pace.

I hit all 4 traffic stops which helped keep my pace fast. Oddly my fastest split was the uphill by the country club in 2:50. The hill workouts must be paying dividends cause I flew up that hill, usually the slowest split of the 6. I ran down it in 2:55

It was a cold, cloudy day, but the streets were clear from a light dusting of snow last night, good traction, better than last weeks middle 4.

Garmin Watch Data for Middle 3

7 Miles 50:21

Mile High Hill Repeats X 7

Ran to the hill and did 7 Hill Repeats today. Range was 2:12-2:18. 10 Miles Total

I was dreading this workout since my long run, but it turned out to be pretty good.
My legs were not sore today (except that dang right knee) and I had more energy.

Tom and I left the Y at 11:30, when we got to Confluence we saw Bob, who also invited his daughter Gina to meet us there. Gina's a freshmen at CU Denver.

We ran over to the hill and started the repeats. It was an ok day, 40 with some sun peeking out now and again. We all took off an extra layer as we started hills. I ran the first one 2:12, Tom was right behind me. Bob ran up and down easy with his daughter.

After the 4th one, the rest of the group was at the bottom of the hill. Craig C and Craig M, Matt and Tim. So we had a good group.

Matt was flying up the Hill "wicked fast" (1:49) Craig M wasn't that far behind him. Matt did 4 all under 1:52, Craig C and Craig M did 5 as did Tom who left early to go back.

Bob joined me for the last 3, which helped pull me through the workout. I actually felt better on the last 4 and my times were consistent. I must be acclimating to the hills.

Another runner showed up, random and ran a couple of repeats. Todd was his name. He was young and fast too. Craig M stayed and did another repeat with him after we left.

After the 7th one, I ran back with Craig C, Bob and Gina. We dropped Gina and Bob off at the CU Denver campus where she goes to school, she ran up the hill a few times, not an easy feat I felt good having this workout under my belt. A long tough one, ready for a rest day tomorrow.

Good workout guys, thanks for joining me. It was "wicked hard". Part of my Boston Lingo and accent I'm adapting.

I messed up my Garmin on the last interval. Forgot to start the watch.

Garmin Watch Data for Hill Repeat

I had an acupuncture treatment later in the day. Mainly preventative for my calfs, but they are starting to get a bit tight and a couple of knots. She put needles in them and gave them 30 minutes of electricity. I also told her about my right knee, which she treated with needles and 15 minutes of juice. Also my left hamstring that has been tugging at me, needles and 15 minutes of juice. It was pretty intense, but relaxing except for a few moments. She said the knee might be some bursitis and I should use traumeel on it and the hamstring.

Funny when she applied the juice to the hamstring, I twitched like a frog leg in biology. Zing. Wicked Twitching going on here....

Wash Park 7

Ran the Wash Park 7 mile run at lunch today with the group. 8 of us started, but only 4 went to Wash Park and Back. Jeff, Jay, Craig C and myself. We went at an easy pace and I needed it. I was really sore from the 18 long run yesterday. Felt better about half way through the run and then after we were done.

Bob went around wash park. Dave, Craig M and Matt went down the bike path and 7 mile Andre did a 4 mile Cheesman loop (tired from his trip to China last week).

I went to the Y this morning and did half a Yoga class, Kelly's. I had an 8:00 meeting so I had to leave the class half way through, but it was a good 30 minutes. I stretched out some of the aches and pains. I'd have to say my right knee was the worst pain, can't seem to shake it. It seems to have gotten worse in the last week, which is discouraging, but with the extra miles and intensity I kind of understand why it's worse. But for now I'm going to battle through it. 12 weeks to Boston.

7 Miles 58 Minutes

7 Hill Repeats on tap for tomorrow and then acupuncture treatment in the afternoon.

Long Run 18

18 Mile Long Run today. Ran from my house out to CC Park around the Dam and toward CC Path to the point where it splits to the Highline Canal, then back home on the trail along Parker.

It was windy at the start and I had a head wind. Wind was from the Northwest, could really feel it in the open areas of CC Park, running into it. I dressed warm though.

Felt better than yesterday, but not great. I ran slow, near the slow end of my Long Run range. The wind going out and the hills coming back (with a tail wind thank god), slowed me down. My right knee hurt and I felt my left hamstring tug a few times going up hill.

I tried to think about Boston and the winds there, how this was good training for it, plus the hills. Just keep going and click them off to get 18 in, one of those endurance runs, slow and easy.

Garmin Watch Data for Run

18 Today, 47.5 for the Week

High Line Canal 7.5

Ran the High Line Canal this afternoon. 7.5 Miles out and back. Didn't get out to run until 2:00 and the wind was up and the clouds had moved in.


Gina walked the dogs out and back while I ran.



The path was clear most of the way, but there was still some bad icy spots and more muddy spots.



My leg muscles and joints ached the whole run and afterwards. Not sure what's up with that. Maybe the mileage is catching up to me. I had a rest day with Yoga (advanced class) yesterday. My pace wasn't that fast around long run pace. Just a yuk run. You have some of those every once in a while.



I have 18 tomorrow, I hope I feel better. Icing stuff now as I blog. Sometimes you feel bad on one day and the next day your great, hope it's one of those days. Then there are times when you feel even worse the next day.



18 is a big jump up in long run, would like to average an 8:30 pace. Probably go over to CC Park around the dam and toward downtown and back.



Garmin Watch Data for Run





7.5 Miles 1:02:55

Wash Park 7 with 4 at Tempo

Ran the Wash Park Route 7 Miles, with the middle 4 of it at a tempo pace of 6:35.
Craig M's idea, good workout. Ran from the Porta Potti at Cheesman to Wash Park and Back.
26:18 for the 4 Miles


53:07 for the 7 Miles

Garmin Watch Data for Run

Chipman was the only one to run a middle 3.
Bob Started with Craig and I then went around the park with Jeff. Tom and Craig ran the 7 easy.

I might switch my rest day and do Yoga tomorrow and run Saturday.

Congress Park 5.25

Ran the Congress Park route today with Alicia. I had a 1:00 meeting so no Yoga today and I took Monday off, so a short easy run was on the schedule. Not too sore from the hills yesterday and the half, but wanted an easy run. Alicia had an hour easy run too, so she did some treadmill work and then met me at the Y.

We left the Y at 11:45 so I could get back for my 1:00 meeting and still run Congress (5.25 miles easy). Also didn't want to get caught up in the faster group pace was a added bonus for an early start.

Hadn't run with Alicia for a while, it was nice to catch up. She has a very tough 1/2 ironman schedule with many Brick workouts and endurance stuff. She had a 6 hour workout on Sunday, 4 hour bike and 2 hour run. She's amazing and dedicated to her sport and fitness. She's planning on doing a 1/2 ironman in Nevada the same weekend as Boston. Also she's doing Moab with our group. So she's on a tough schedule.

We had a good run, parts of Cheesman are still frozen over though, some bad spots where we stopped to walk through them. She's smart and cautious not risking injury on a recovery run. Unlike me who turns around to talk and runs backwards and falls on the ice on New Years Eve.

5.25 Miles 44:58.

Had a good massage on Tuesday night, Tara found some knots in my calfs and worked through them. I think I need to visit the accupuncturist next week for some preventive medicine.

Mile High Hill Repeats X 6

Did 6 Hill Repeats today with the group. Range was 2:10 to 2:20, 2:18 average a bit slower than last week..

Tom, Craig C, Craig M, Matt and Bob joined me on the hill today.

Craig and Bob did 6 with me. Matt’s first time on the hill, he did 5, but they were all fast, around 2:00. Bob’s first time on the hill too, he did good and didn’t rest as long as the rest of us. Tom and Craig did 4, went 2 and 2 according to Tom, another draw. That’s why you do 5 Tom, unless you tie on one.

I felt it in my legs and cardio a bit today from the Half Marathon on Sunday. Didn't have that push I have had.

Craig M told me he had his max HR ever on the hills last week up to 178. 5BPM higher than track work. Interesting. I should wear my HRM next week and get some stats.

I messed up my Garmin on the way out and the first uphill interval, but the rest is good.
Garmin Data for Workout

9.6 Miles total with 4 Miles of hills, about 1:24:00 total time. These make for long workouts as I add a hill repeat each week.
Cloudy and chilly in the 40’s. Good weather for January hills.

Massage tonight good timing again. I might switch my rest days around this week depending on how I feel on Wednesday...