Last year:

Loose goal for 2011 = 3,000 running, 2,000 bike…  We’ll see.

The stats:

Missed the bike goal by a long ways, but I did manage to squeak out 3,000 miles on foot in style with 26.2 on the final day of the year.  Works out to an 8.2 mile per day average.  It was just a few years ago when 8 miles was the longest run I had ever done.  Wow.

I still think my ideal year would be 3,000 run/2,00o bike, but I can see now that those numbers are pretty far out of reach due to available training time.  I miss the bike, but am not really willing to cut back on the running at this stage.

So, next year’s goal:

3,333 run / 999 bike

Staying healthy for running will be key.  I had two calf injuries this year that knocked me out for 10 days each.  That was a major victory over previous years when I have been out for 1-3 months at a time with various issues.  On the bike side, I need to get serious about incorporating a commute on at least a weekly basis (20 miles each way).  That will be one way to get some extra miles and replacing some behind-the-wheel time with saddle time.

Happy 2012!

Roller coaster week, highs and lows.  A lot less running than I had planned, but that’s just fine.  I’m still somewhat in recovery mode from Slickrock and there’s no need to push anything.  I’m not sore or anything, but I can tell from the pattern of having really good runs followed by really bad ones that I am not truly recovered yet.  Bighorn and Leadville were both around 3-4 days, but it looks like Slickrock will take 3-4 weeks.  Definitely took more out of me.

Monday
Bike – 28 miles

Did a steady 20 mile effort. Working, but not killing it. Averaged 21.9mph which wasn’t bad for only my second road ride since June. Couldn’t quite push hard enough through the wind to get 22.

Tuesday
Run – 7.3 miles

Two laps at Hildebrand. Amazing run. Felt strong. It was raining, and starting to get muddy. My hands were frozen, but my legs could do no wrong. I had the feeling like when I travel on business and leave my trusty (but gutless) Honda Fit behind and happen into something like a Dodge Charger at the rental counter. Just a little press of the gas pedal and the power is there.

Wednesday
Run – 5.4 miles

Running with a heavy heart is tough. Got the sad news last night of little Emma’s passing. Today was cold and snowy, first snow run of the year. Just wasn’t into it. Turned back early, did a bit of walking, tried not to let my eyeballs freeze when they would get a little damp with the thoughts. A special little girl that will be missed. We are better for having had her in our lives.

Thursday

No run. Cold day, a lot on my plate at work, and was in a dark place mentally. Got a late-evening call from Emma’s mom, asking if she could use some of what I wrote for the obituary. Of course there was no need for her to ask, but I was incredibly humbled that she took the time to do so and it was so nice to talk with her for a few minutes.

Friday
Run – 7 miles

Nice cleansing run on a beautiful day. Steady from start to finish.

Saturday
Run – 5.5 miles

Easy 5.5 at dusk with Malcolm. His first run in a week after being slammed with strep throat. Beautiful sunset running through Chatfield, good to get out with him again.

Sunday

Buried with homework of all things (taking a Java programming class). Hard to teach this old man new tricks. I am really good at shell scripting, but this Object Oriented stuff hurts my brain. No run.

Total: 5:26 – bike 28 miles / 1:29, run 25 miles / 3:57

Pic of the week – I wonder what these guys did for Halloween?

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: