Monthly Archives: October 2011
2011 Training Log – Week 41
Spent the week in Utah for fall break, visiting with family and eating like a pig. The weather was spectacular and we had a great time.
Very little in the way of running, but that was just fine as I haven’t taken a good recovery period all year. The two weeks after running the Slickrock 100 have been very mellow. For some reason, my climbing legs really felt ‘on’ this week. Not in a sense of being fast, but more like a gear down and just keep on going kind of thing. I like it!
Next race is two weeks away, in Moab. I’m pacing my son through his first marathon and am super happy to get to go out there again and do that with him.
Monday
Run – 4.3 miles
Felt like 8.
Tuesday
Run – 6 miles
Cool run on the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. The run was short but we worked the climbs. Legs felt good. Also ran up the short but very steep Round Peak. The trail was like a ditch filled with rocks.
Wednesday
Run – 4.3 miles
Easy cruise around the park.
Thursday
Zero
Spent my birthday hanging out and having fun with family.
Friday
Run – 11.3 miles
Really good run across the BST with Malcolm. We ran all the climbs and kept a good steady pace. The trail itself isn’t anything to write home about, but the views of the valley are super and the many shorter climbs are a great workout.
Saturday
Nada.
Sunday
No run, but signed us up to run the Moab Trail Marathon in two weeks. It’ll be Malcolm’s first marathon and I’m excited for the chance to run it with him. He hasn’t been doing any real long runs, but is very fit after XC season. We’ll keep it nice and steady and enjoy the day in the canyons.
Total
25 miles / 4:47
Pic of the week – go to the light!
2011 WUROY
There has been a lot of chatter about the Ultra Runner of the Year award lately. Who is eligible, who is most deserving; roads?, trails?, 100 milers?, shorter distances?.
Fortunately, the WUROY has no such controversy or strings attached.
I am honored to be the 2011 recipient of Woody’s Ultra Runner of the Year! Woody is someone I have a great deal of respect for, both as a runner and even more as a great dad and person. His positive outlook and demeanor are a pleasure to be around. Plus he is a darn good runner, rocking a sub-24 at Leadville in his first try at 100 miles!
Of course this award is completely tounge-in-cheek, and we had fun with the idea. It is still a great way to cap the season and I very much appreciated the sentiment.
In Woodys words:
Alright, I have an announcement to make. After winning at 12 hours of Moab, witnessing your performance finishing Collegiate Peaks with a busted leg, running 100 miles at Bighorn with waterlogged feet, finishing Leadville with a 30 mile walk when you could have dropped, and NOW tacking on an additional 11 miles after getting your buckle…..I hereby select you for Woody’s 2011 Ultrarunner of the Year award. Certificate to follow via email. Haha! Seriously Chris, what a race and what a year!
This thing is definitely getting framed and put on the wall. Thanks, Woody!!!
2011 Training Log – Week 40
This week has been mostly about R&R after the Slickrock 100, and I’m liking it! After the Bighorn 100 and Leadville 100 earlier in the summer, I was back to more-or-less normal training within a few days. Those races were slow and didn’t beat me up too badly. Going into Slickrock, I told myself I didn’t want to come out of this one in any mood to start training again. Leave it all out on the course. I wanted to come back wrecked, shattered, barely able to move. All signs of what to me would indicate that I had pushed myself.
I was somewhat successful, but have started to get the itch to get back at it already. I think I’ll take it pretty easy for another week before I start doing much in the way of training again.
Monday
Ouch.
Tuesday
A little better.
Wednesday
Jogged a little bit with the dog.
Thursday
Run – 2 miles
Final XC meet of the year. Did the normal running around and taking pictures. Felt WAY better than I thought I would.
The kiddos did awesome. Malcolm made it through every single practice and meet, and was super consistent all season with his times all coming within about a minute of each other. Lindsey fought super hard all the way. I got a front row seat to the last .75 mile and was so excited to see her digging deep to finish just ahead of the girls that usually beat her.
During a lull in the race while I was standing around near another dad waiting for the kids to come through, I hear a dull thud behind me. I glanced back and didn’t see anything. A few seconds later, I heard it again. And again. Then the other dad turned to me and asked, “Did you hear that?”. Then I saw what it was. Incoming! Someone was launching apples onto the course from behind a fence across the street.
I sprinted through the cars and leaped onto the fence, pulling my head up over the top just as a teenage kid was reloading.
“Whatcha doin’ there, cowboy?”, I asked with a smile.
“Uh. Throwing apples.”, came the sheepish response.
I asked him to stop (or might have told him to knock it off), and he agreed.
I then cleaned up the apples before the runners came through and rolled an ankle on one.
Saturday
Bike – 25 miles
Got back on the road bike for the first time since June. Hairy legs and all. Mixed it up in a 12 man paceline for a while. Felt good all things considered.
Saturday
Nada.
Sunday
Zip.
Pic of the week, checking out the petroglyphs in Sego Canyon:
The Scene Begins 