Week Log: March 24-30

Mon-AM: 15 miles (2:01) Water Tank Hill+Bear Creek w/ Jocelyn
Longest run ever in the FFs.
PM: 8 miles (1:05) Water Tank Hill+Monument
Wore the FFs.

Tue-AM: 20 miles (2:28)~5 mile tempo in 28:14 (5:41, 5:43, 5:38, 5:23), 1.5 mile in 10min, 1mile in 5:10
Not really feeling it today---tired.
PM: 5 miles (:43) North Monument Loop+ w/ Jocelyn, Megz, Ben
Wore the FFs.

Wed-AM: 24 miles (3:03) Mt Buckhorn+2 miles barefoot
Absolutely gorgeous day. Had a photo shoot on the top of Buckhorn for Westword News.
PM: 4 miles (:33) North Loop
CRC run w/ Julian in the FFs.

Thu-AM: 28 miles (3:27) Mt. Buckhorn-El Diablo Loop+barefoot stuff
High Drive to Buckhorn hillclimb tempo in 28:54 (PR), then, through Bear Creek and finishing on the track: 3x1mile in 5:21, 5:35, 5:07 (79, 78, 77, 73) w/ 1 mile in 6:45 recovery jogs (5 miles continuous in 29:33).
Great great run. The tempo up Buckhorn was very solid and then I felt very good on the miles, too. The last one was barefoot on the track.
PM: 5 miles (:41) North Monument
Easy in the FFs. Felt decent, actually.

Fri-AM: 11 miles (1:31) Monument-Mesas-RR Tracks
Freezing drizzle this morning--27 degrees. Still, I had a great little jog in the FFs and my NB Storm Striker jacket. Legs actually felt really good. Feeling good on Fridays is a great indicator that I'm on top of my training.

Sat-AM: 32 miles (4:06) Buckhorn-Jones Park-7 Bridges-Buckhorn+barefoot and extra in Monument
Feeling very solid. I had to really hold back in order to not really crank all morning.

Sun-AM: 32 miles (4:07) Buckhorn-7 Bridges-Jones Park-Buckhorn+duck pond loops

Again, feeling very good.  No gels, no water, and still able to feel totally on top of it the whole run.  The 7 Bridges climb was great and almost fully melted out.  I'm going to go up that hill more often because it's REALLY steep in some spots.

Total: 184 miles (23:45)

An excellent week in terms of both quantity and quality.  The Tuesday workout was a bit of a grunt, but the rest of the week I felt so good (especially Thursday's workout) that now I'm feeling like that I'm just a couple of 12-14hr weekends away from being in killer 100 mile shape. So, of course, I'll do my best to stay away from those for the next month and a half at least.  The last two weeks my fitness has improved so much; I'm definitely in way WAY better shape than at Moab--not even comparable, really.  Time to taper and have some fun at AR next weekend.

Week Log: March 17-23

Mon-AM: 15 miles (2:04) South Santa Fe Trail out and back w/ Kyle
Feeling pretty wiped from the weekend, so I had to take it slow.

Tue-AM: 23 miles (3:06) High Drive-GoldCamp-Stratton
Ran early before work---nice to see the sun rise. The climb was still super snowy and slick.
PM: 5 miles (:41) Downtown+barefoot
Ran down to the bank and back in the FiveFingers...feeling tired.

Wed-AM: 20 miles (2:31)~3mi-2mi-1mi in 16:18 (5:17, 5:34, 5:27), 10:35 (5:23/5:12), and 5:10 (2:37/2:33). 10min and 5min recovery jogs.
Felt very solid on this workout. The 3 mile was tempo effort while the 2mi and 1mi were definitely anaerobic.
PM: 5 miles (:42) CRC Run
Ran to Mountain Mama's and back in the FiveFingers. Somehow I found a great little area of trails I've never been on before...even after 7 years...

Thu-AM: 24 miles (3:05) Mt. Buckhorn+barefoot
Feeling good this morning but I took it easy in the beautiful weather. Finished up with 2 miles barefoot on the grass.

Fri-AM: 43 miles (6:00) Garden-RRR-Williams-Waldo-Cascade-UPT-Pipeline-Manitou-Garden+barefoot.
Last long long run before AR--mostly just wanted to get the time on my feet. Got up at 5am to get the run in before work so I was treated to a sunrise and alpenglow on Pikes from RRR--man, that's hard to beat. Finished up with 2 miles barefoot on the grass to get the full time.

Sat-AM: 32 miles (4:25) From Pott's Field in Boulder: through campus to Chataqua, Mesa Trail to Bear Canyon to Bear Peak back down to Mesa Trail then Mesa all the way over to Eldorado Canyon back on Mesa to Potts where I finished up with 2 miles on the Boulder Creek Path.

The last 10 minutes up Bear Peak were a hike because of steep snow but the views from the top were incredible.  I really rocked the pace all the way back from Eldo to Potts on the Mesa Trail feeling great---I might have to spend a serious length of time in Boulder sometime soon.

Sun-AM: 15 miles (2:06) South Santa Fe out and back w/ Jocelyn plus a North Loop

Ran nice and easy in the new snow...definitely needed the easy day.

Total: 182 miles (24:40)

I was very happy with this week.  The Wednesday workout and Fri/Sat back to back long runs are exactly what I need right now---I'm starting to feel pretty fit.

Week Log: March 10-16

Mon- 35 miles (5:10) Kyle's house to Whitewater Mesa to Gold Dust to Main Fork Whitewater to Daloche to Mogollon to Powerhouse Rd to Catwalk and back. ~6000' climbing

Tue- 30 miles (5:16) Pleasanton to Holt Gulch to Camp Creek Saddle to South Fork Whitewater up to Nabours down past the dump and back to Pleasanton. ~8000' climbing

Wed-20 miles (3:00) Gold Dust Trailhead to South Fork Whitewater to Tennessee Meadows and back

Thu-AM: 20 miles (2:30) 4x1mile in 5:17, 5:10, 5:10, 5:09 (3min recovery jog)
PM: 5 miles (:40) North Monument in the FiveFingers

Fri-AM: 11 miles (1:31) Bear Creek and Monument
Raging snowstorm, but still ran in the FFs.

Sat-AM: 43 miles (5:11) Rampart Range Overlook and back+barefoot
Cranked solid with Kyle. Kept a super solid pace even with the 3000'+ climb up to the overlook.

Sun-AM: 37 miles (5:10) Bear Creek to Section 16 CCW to Buckhorn to Gold Camp Connector to High Drive to Section 16 CW to Intemann to Red Rocks to Garden and back.
Another very good run, but it was foggy and snowing all day. The New Balance 790s have proven to be a great shoe...very versatile.

Total: 201 miles (28:28)

Ended up being a bigger week than expected because of the four 5hr runs. I was very pleased with the speedwork on Thursday and was especially pleased with the fact that my shin is now clearly 100% healthy.

Week Log: March 3-9

Mon- 16 miles (2:10) Stratton Open Space w/ Kyle
Ran nice and easy and explored the plethora of sweet little singletracks hidden in the trees there. Had a nice climb up to Gold Camp. My shin cramped a little the last mile, but I just walked a few yards and jogged it in very easily and it was never a problem again. Got some Cold Laser.

Tue-AM: 16 miles (2:35) Barr Camp from Memorial Park w/ Kyle
Ran to Barr in 1:19 from Hydro (4000' climb) after getting to No Name Creek in 36:18. The trail was basically clear to NNC, but then Kyle and I were breaking trail through some fresh snow and drifts all the way to Barr Camp, so it was slow going but still a glorious day in the mountains. Shin never hurt at all.

Wed-AM: 18 miles (2:45) Memorial Park to Williams to Waldo CCW to Longs Ranch Road to No Name and back to Manitou
Ran easy with Kyle until he bailed onto the UPT. The climb up Longs was tough because of ice and snow but totally worth it. Shin was great. Snowing at the top. ~4000' vertical
PM: 4.5 miles (:34) North Loop CRC Run w/ group
Ran easy and felt good in the FiveFingers.

Thu-AM: 18 miles (2:10)~4 mile tempo in 21:59 (5:47, 5:24, 5:31, 5:16)
Wore my new New Balance 205 flats (Khalid's shoe) and felt good. Shin tightened up some on the cooldown, but Jeff did some ART on it when I went to get lasered later and it felt fine. Very pleased with my ability to pull off a run like that right now.

Fri-AM: 11 miles (1:30) Mesas and Monument w/ Kyle
Easy in the FiveFingers.

Sat-AM: 30 miles (4:00) Buckhorn Mt to Seven Bridges to Jones Park down 666 and back to Nevada.
Finished up with 10 minutes barefoot running. ~4000' vertical

Sun-AM: 10 miles (1:35) La Luz Trail in Albuquerque w/ Kyle.
Great trail up to ~9300' or so and then it was knee-deep snow, so we turned around. A nice moderate, switch-backed climb, but still ~2000' gain.
PM: 8 miles (1:04) Amos Trail to Whitewater Mesa in Glenwood, NM w/ Kyle.
Felt great to shake the legs out in the FiveFingers.

Total: 131 miles (18:23)

This was an encouraging week of running. The shin twinged a couple times throughout the week (Thursday and Saturday), but overall I was disciplined and kept it under control with icing and cold laser and by Sunday it felt 100%. Sunday was the beginning of a nice little trip to sunny New Mexico and the Gila Wilderness.

Week Log: Feb 25-March 2

Mon- 10 miles (1:20) South out and back w/ Kyle.

Tue- 8 miles (1:01) South out and back w/ Kyle.
Shitty. Legs felt great, but I walked the last 2 miles or so because my shin was sore.

Wed- 0 (got some Cold Laser at Champion Health)

Thu- 5 miles (:41) North Monument
Shin felt fine.

Fri- 8 miles (1:05) South out and back w/ Kyle

Sat- 14 miles (2:04) Section 16 Loop w/ Kyle
Ran from John's house in Manitou (where Kyle, Jocelyn, and I were house-sitting), through Red Rocks, up the steep side of Section 16, down the mellow side and back the same way. It was an incredibly sweet run on a nearly 80 degree day. Shin never hurt.

Sun- 23 miles (3:01) Buckhorn-Gold Camp via connector trail, back through Stratton
Today was snowing and windy as hell---spring in Colorado Springs. The shin felt great until the last few miles when it tightened up a bit and I actually ended up walking in the last mile as a precaution. It wasn't an issue at all, though, so I'm confident I didn't hurt it further.

Total: 68 miles (9:12)

This was a good first week back after taking so much time off. I'm keeping with the Cold Laser treatments and just trying to listen to my shin very closely. I think I got it this time...