Week 2 of vacation.  Very little running, but did some 14ers and tons of walking around at an amusement park (should have worn the Garmin).

Monday – Wednesday
0 miles

Thursday
7 miles

Late eveing Quandary ascent.  Got off the mountain at 12:30am.

Friday
14 miles

Drove over to Leadville after Quandary and took a 3 hour nap before hiking up Mt. Massive.

Saturday
12 miles

Spent time working around the house, then took the kids swimming for a couple of hours.  Got home mid afternoon and asked who wanted to ride up Waterton while I ran.  Much to my surprise, they were all game.  I really need to do this more often.  It’s a great way to get everyone out and doing something, and I get a good workout.

The run was good.  I didn’t expect much since it was only the 4th time I’ve run in the past two weeks.  I was a little rusty for a mile or two, then settled in and really enjoyed it.

Sunday
2 miles

Just some easy treadmill with lots of calf stretching.

Total: 35 miles / 10:00

Good week. Miles are low, but quality is high.  Had 3 really good runs and got in some solid time on the feet hiking through some amazing scenery.

I’ll do a separate post about the race, but I was very happy with that result given where I’m at.

Monday
7 miles

Hiking in Bryce Canyon National Park.

Tuesday
6.2 miles

Got up before dawn and ran from the hotel to an overlook in BCNP. Super smoky morning, but it didn’t bother me at all. Lungs think it’s normal.

Felt uncharacteristically good, and cranked the last 1/2 mile to get to the rim of the canyon just as the sun cracked the horizon.

4.5 miles

Hiking in Zion National Park.  Smoke free, but VERY HOT!

Wednesday
8.2 miles

Skipped an early-morning 10k I was thinking of racing, and opted to go shoot the balloon launch instead.  It was a good call.

Got home and took my wife and son up the canyon with the plan that we’d all head up the path for 30 minutes, then turn around. Worked out great. I felt amazing. Best run in a couple of month’s time at least. Power was there when I wanted it. Ended up with a little over 8 miles of solid tempo, we all finished within a few seconds of each other.  A cool morning and smoke-free air sure was nice.

Thursday
0 miles

Friday
0 miles

Casual day.  Took the family up to Snowbird and rode the tram to the top.  Hiked around and enjoyed the wildflowers.

Saturday
13.1 miles (+ 1.5 warmup)

Hobbler Half Marathon

1:29:30 (6:49)
19th overall out of 720
3rd age group

Sunday

OFF

Total: 40 miles / 10:11

I feel like I have been treading water for a couple of month’s now.  Running has just been flat.  My weekly miles are nowhere near what I’d like (a lot of ‘life’ getting in the way), but I have been trying to throw in harder efforts on a more consistent basis.  We’ll see if that will shake things up a little.

Monday
7.3 miles

South Valley Park.  4pm.  105 degrees.  Tied the record for the hottest temp ever recorded in Denver.  Big south wind made it like running in a blast furnace.

Tuesday
9.7 miles

Repeats – .5 .5 1mile .5 .5

Wednesday
7.2 miles

Easy cruise after work to pick up a vehicle from getting some maintenance.  I’m slow, but I was at least moving faster than the traffic.

Headed up to Roxborough State Park again after dinner.  Saw bear #3 of the year.

Thursday
12.2 miles

Repeats.  2 mile, 1 mile, 2 mile.

Friday
6.2 miles

Easy jog.

Saturday
0 miles

Travel day.

Pine Ridge fire near Grand Junciton.

Utah is on fire, too.

Saturday
8.4 miles

Late night, then up at dawn to get a run in.  First two miles rough, had to stop and let the calves settle down again. Things started clicking after that and I did a medium-effort tempo of 3 miles @ 6:49 pace. Then one mile cool down.

Total: 51.1 miles / 7:38