Finished up a good 3 week block of training with another 70 miles.  Now it’s time to back off a little and let the legs recover just a bit before thrashing them at the Psycho Wyco 50k in two weeks.  I’m not in ideal shape for that race, but I have been training well so no complaints.

I’ve been hitting the homemade TRX almost every day and am really liking it.  Starting to feel just a tiny bit stronger.  It’s a great way to get a quick core and upper body workout.  10-20 minutes is all it takes to be pretty well spent.

My Facebook friend count is +100 after this week.  I’d say it’s about 60-40 for those I knew vs. ones I didn’t.  A lot of the ones I didn’t know personally were friends of friends or I’ve seen their blogs/comments, etc.  One of my loose goals this year is to stretch myself a little more socially (I’m a pretty hardcore introvert by nature), so if you accepted my friend request – thanks!

Along a similar line, I’ve been making a concerted effort to get out and run with others on the weekends.  It’s great to share the trails with the good runners around here, and it definitely gives me a training boost as everyone seems to be in killer shape.  I’ve stayed away from a lot of group runs due to being injured, fat, slow, or having a tough schedule.  I’m injury free now, starting to get leaner/faster again, and have found that despite the schedule, it can be done.  It just takes a little work.  I think I did group runs or met others for a run 4 times all of last year.  I’ve already matched that this month.

Monday
12 miles
137 TSS
Saucony Peregrine

Head wanted to go fast, legs wanted slow. Head won.

I kept thinking of that Jens Voigt (one of the toughest riders in the peloton) clip when he says what he tells his legs when they start complaining.  He is a German that learned English from Austrailians, so he has an awesome accent.

Tuesday
11 miles
125 TSS
Saucony Kinvara

One of those box of chocolates kind of days. Never know what you’re gonna get. Pleasantly surprised that it turned out good.

Wednesday
7 miles
74 TSS
Saucony Kinvara

Easy.

Thursday
11 miles
108 TSS
New Balance MT110

Hill repeats. These are going to pay off. Some day.

4:18
4:35
4:41
4:44
4:39
4:37

Way too hot on the first one, but set a new best time. Gave a good effort on the rest and salvaged the day, but it wasn’t anything stellar.

Friday
11 miles
111 TSS
Saucony Peregrine

Nice cruise.

Saturday
18 miles
173 TSS
New Balance MT110

06:00 start for a run with the TURDs (Trail Ultra Running Dads). Had a very enjoyable morning on the trails with Woody, Joe, Jim, and Jaime. Great to get in a solid run like that with some good guys that have similar family and scheduling constraints. It was cold, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I was happy to feel decent, only complaint was that the legs were still tired from Thursday. I’ll take it.  And what a sunrise!

Sunday

OFF

Total: 70.7 miles / 11:15 / 730 TSS

Pic of the week.  Waterton Canyon (2 miles from my house) opens up again in one month after being closed for about a year and a half.  Can’t wait to get up there and check on my Bighorn buddies:

Really slow start to the week.  I was definitely feeling the effects from Saturday’s 50k for a while.  I didn’t want to take any time off, though.  So I kept the easy days really easy, then rallied late for some good efforts on Thursday and Saturday.

Looking for a good week coming up with a tempo run, more hill repeats, and another 20-30 long run on the weekend.

Monday
6 miles
40 TSS
Nike Free

Dreaded this one all day. Feeling tired and a bit sore from the big run over the weekend. Got on the treadmill and jogged – actually felt decent.

Tuesday
8 miles
53 TSS
New Balance MT110

Very tired, but got it done.

Also did some TRX.

Wednesday
8 miles
58 TSS
Merrell Trail Glove

Ran some laps at the boneyard with Stu. Trails were super sketchy with 2-3″ of clear/polished ice underneath a 1/2″ layer of powder. Multiple slips and close calls. Thankfully no diggers. Playing with fire on the ice…

Thursday
11 miles
112 TSS
Saucony Kinvara

I’m still dragging a bit after Saturday’s big run. Everyone else reported just running easy for the day, but I worked pretty hard for 40-50% of it with my heart rate in the upper 160s for very long stretches.

Wasn’t sure I would be up for doing hill repeats today, and the few surges I threw in during my warmup were pretty awful.

Turned out good, though. My best ever time on this particular hill (Locust) was 2:23.

I only did 4 repeats, but all were high quality:

2:21
2:23
2:22
2:28

There was no transitioning to an easy jog recovery. It was full-stop, hands-on-knees, head-spinning, breathing like a steam train, try not to pass out. Then start jogging again. I went absolutely as hard as I could.

I have no idea how I still managed a 2:28 on the last. It felt more like a 3:00. I had it in my head to bust through 2:20 so got out really quick. It came back to bite me in the butt as I crossed the razor’s edge and just about had to come to a stop. I staggered the last 100 meters and called it good for the day.

Also completed my toughest TRX workout yet.  Loving the Atomic Pushup.

Friday
10.4 miles
105 TSS
Saucony Kinvara

Ugh. Legs shot. Really struggled to get through this one.

Saturday
20 miles
222 TSS
New Balance MT110

A much needed breath of fresh air in what has been a tough week.  Dinner out, a movie, and an uncharacteristically good night’s sleep had me feeling really good in the morning.  I got some chores done around the house and then busted out for a loop around Chatfield.  My aim was to keep a steady effort going and I targeted the mid 150s for heart rate.  Most of my long runs are more of a jog, this one was an extended medium effort.  2:45 right in the sweet-spot.  Felt like good quality stuff.

Not every run can be a romp through the mountains with a group of friends.

Wolverine?

Living on the edge.

It was odd to see the lake surface so calm as I was getting pounded by the wind.

The mushy conditions made it tough to keep a good pace going.

Sunday
7 miles
108 TSS
Nike Free

5 on the mill, 2 with the dog. Easy. Tired, but ok.

Total: 70.4 miles / 11:26 / 712 TSS

Pic of the week.  Puppy Love: