Weekly Summary: Jan 3-9

01-03-2011
Mon-AM: 13 miles (2:06) Green Mt., 3000'
Up back and down Bear Cyn with Joe and Scott.  NW ridge was more packed out than yesterday and we enjoyed classic winter trail conditions all-around.  Some great sunshine, too.
PM: 10 miles (1:17) Golf Course-Old Tale Loop
Legs felt good running in the dark.

Profile on the summit of Green. Photo: Joe Grant.

01-04-2011
Tue-AM: 16 miles (2:41) Green & Bear, 4400'
Ugh.  Kind of a tough run with Scott.  The track up the back of Green was in its best shape yet, but I was feeling pretty worked by the top of Green.  The plan was to tag Bear, though, too, so up the West Ridge we went and while it was looser footing it wasn't too bad following Scott's pace even as I proceeded to bonk something fierce.  The footing in Fern was excellent thanks to Microspikes--a real pleasure compared to its character when dry--and I happily survived the run back home via Mesa in the brilliant sunshine.
PM: 7 miles (1:00) Creek Path
Took it really easy, running late in the dark.

01-05-2011
Wed-AM: 14 miles (2:10) Green Mt., 3000'
Up back and down Greenman-Gregory. The footing wasn't ideal for Microspikes this morning--packed but too soft and often too loose.  Ran to the grocery store afterwards.
PM: 8 miles (1:05) Creek Path
Easy shake-out jog. A tiny fingernail sliver of a moon was rising over Green's north shoulder.

01-06-2011
Thu-AM: 32 miles (4:18) Creek Path Loop+Green Mt., 3300'
With Scott. Started with a 20+ mile loop on (mostly) pavement on the creek paths around town: Boulder Creek Path to 28th, up to Broadway, down Broadway to the dirt (ice/snow) South Boulder Creek Path, back north to Goose Creek to Cottonwood Trail all the way to Jay Rd where we flipped around and ran back on Goose Creek to Edgewood Dr and 20th.  Stopped by Jurker's and then my house to pick up Microspikes and then did a lap on Green, up the back.  I felt very strong on Green and the pavement stuff was in the 6:45-7:10 range.  My calf tightened up some from all the pavement, but it was generally a good first long run back (despite the wicked winds all morning) and should be good simulation for some upcoming races.

Thursday's long run is easily the most sustained pavement I've run since the run shown here: early bike path miles at the American River 50 in April 2008 (And, as you can see here, we were all sneaking as much dirt as we could).

01-07-2011
Fri-AM: 14 miles (2:06) Green Mt., 3000'
Up Gregory-Greenman down Bear Cyn. Legs felt surprisingly good and calf was much better than I thought it was going to be. Trail surface is frustratingly mixed right now.  Ridiculously warm.
PM: 8 miles (1:03) Creek Path
Nice evening to be out jogging in the dark.

01-08-2011
Sat-AM: 14 miles (2:03) Green Mt., 3000'
Up the back and down Bear Cyn w/ the usual add-ons at the beginning and end. My new shoes gripped wonderfully on the spring-like mix of dirt, ice and packed snow but that did little to inject any significant pep into my stride.  Desultory slog up the mountain then despite the fantastic weather.
PM: 11 miles (1:17) 4 mile+1mi @ BHS track
Felt a little guilty for reneging on my plans to race the Quicker Quaker 5K in Lafayette this morning (lingering concerns about my calf), so I headed to the track in the evening dark for a little test/make-up session. 2.5mi warm-up and then 4mi in 22:06 (5:40, 5:38, 5:34, 5:14), 5min/2-lap jog, then 1mi in 5:13 (80, 80, 77, 76). Eased into the 4mi effort mostly just wanting to cut each mile down a few seconds, but when I felt comfortable after 3mi I opened it up a bit for the last mile. After the recovery jog my quads felt a little strained on the first lap of the final mile so I opted to cruise it in just a tick under my fastest previous mile making it unexpectedly comfortable cardiovascularly.  Obviously, jogging up and down mountains every day builds the heart and lungs but not the turnover so much.  Finished up with a 3mi cooldown, most of it barefoot on the infield.  Good workout.

01-09-2011
Sun-AM: 15 miles (2:14) Green Mt., 3000'
Up the back and down Greenman to Flagstaff and Eben G. Fine.  Finished up with a visit to the grocery store before heading home.  I started out in a light snow that turned to an inch+ of accumulation at 9am on the summit and very heavy snowfall by time I made it back to town.  One of those magical, quiet winter days on the trails.
PM: 7 miles (1:08) Mesa trails w/ Jocelyn, 800'
McClintock-Enchanted-Kohler-Skunk Canyon-Campus and home.  Footing was pretty dodgy, but Joce and I had a good time slogging through the heavily-falling snow in the dark.

Total
-Miles: 169
-Hours: 24h 28min
-Vertical: 23,500'
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Week #2 of the 2011 training season.  It was good.  A good long run and a good track workout along with consistent vertical and mileage.  Also the second week in a row that I've finished one mile below a round number.  Thursday reminded me that my calf is still touchy and I need to continue to be careful with it.  School starts back up again this week and with TAing this semester I should be especially busy.  With a little extra discipline, though, I think I should be able to keep all areas of my life productive.  It should be an especially exciting year of racing, too, which I'll probably outline in a future post.