The Scene Begins

2011 Training Log–Week 2

Getting back into the swing of the training lifestyle this week. Great week with two times on the snowshoes and a good bike effort. Wish I could mix in that much cros-training every week. Just going slow and trying to build up some consistency.

01.10.2011 – 01.16.2011

Monday
Run – 3.1 / 1:19 (25:11) / 122avg
First tromp in the new snowshoes. Did a big loop around the neighborhood. Slow going, very cold (1.5F), but fun. Stayed perfectly warm except for the exposed bits of my face. Will be good if I can do this 2x/week.

Tuesday
Run – 10.3 / 1:34 (9:10) / 145avg
Got back to the bread-and-butter 10 miler. Tough footing. Ran in packed tire treads, but the snow was so dry it would just divot when you push off.

Wednesday
Run – 10.1 / 1:26 (8:30) / 145avg
Back to back 10 milers, been a long time. Best word to describe this run is ‘routine’. I am very glad to be able to use that word on a 10 miler at this stage in the game.

Wednesday
Run – 2 / :46 (22:19) / 126avg
Snowshoe in the dark around the park while the kids were @ bball practice.

Thursday
Run – 10.2 / 1:36 (9:27) / 137avg
3rd 10 miler in a row. Knew that might be a stretch for me right now so kept the effort way down in hopes of minimizing the impact. A few miles of very tough forward progress in sugary snow. Tons of people out today, nice weather in the 40s. Shorts and T in January, love it.

Want to keep running, but will opt for some sort of bike tomorrow to give the foot/heel a rest. It’s still a bit cranky.

Friday
Bike – 25 / 1:26 (17.3mph) / 148avg
Great day for a bike ride, but the roads are still snow covered and slushy. Luckily I had scoped out a well-to-do neighborhood that I run through and found a 2 mile loop that was 95% snow-free. I rolled over there and commenced a 10 lap hard effort, trying to keep my average speed over 20mph on the rolling course. The knobby tires were humming today. I checked at the halfway point and the speed was 19.7, and it was still 19.7 at the finish. Didn’t quite make my goal, but it was a solid effort and I was happy to see I didn’t fade over the second half.

Stats for the lap:
21.35 / 1:04 (19.7) / 159avg

Saturday
Run – 12.3 / 1:56 (9:29) / 137avg
Got up at 05:15 to get this one out of the way before going to kids basketball games. It was dark and cold, the roads still snowpacked and icy in several places. Just jogged along in the dark, not even an ipod this time. Happy with the routine I’m starting to establish. HR averaged 137, nice and easy. Legs were a little tired from yesterday’s effort, but not nearly as bad as I thought they would be.

Sunday
Run – 3 / :30 (10:00) / 124avg
Short recovery jog on the treadmill.

Sunday
Run – .6 / :08
Barefoot on the treadmill.

Total time – 10:42

Run – 51.6 / 9:16
Bike – 25 / 1:26

Pic of the week:

Fun in the snow

Posted in Uncategorized

2011 Training Log–Week 1

Jan 30

Posted by chrisboyack

I’ve been toying with the idea of keeping a more detailed training log for a while. I’ve kept track of my mileage and time all along, but haven’t really used the log approach very consistently. I did well when I was working with coach Karl, and found that the report was a great way to stay motivated during the week – and then to reflect on how the week went and hopefully learn some things in the process.

I’m just getting rolling again after dealing with a prolonged layoff due to an injured foot, and needing some motivation. Especially now – in the dead of winter, with all of my hard-earned fitness long gone, and a few extra pounds to carry around.

Just knowing I’ll be reporting on my week is going to be a great help in getting me back on track. I do have to be somewhat careful to not get sucked into doing things just for the sake of having a good report (running too far, too fast, then getting injured). I’m most hopeful that putting up a weekly accounting, as meager as it may be right now, will help me even more in terms of staying motivated to do the extra things in training beyond just racking up miles. Eat well, lose weight, cross-train, work on other areas of the body besides just the legs.

This year I am going to put a decent amount of time in on my bike, but with a twist. In the past I have always used the bike as more of a recovery tool for an easy day. Now when I ride, it will be with harder efforts to build strength in areas of my legs that have not been getting used much. Hopefully, all of this will lead to some good results this year.

It’s a start…

01.03.2011 – 01.09.2011

Monday
Run – 5.2 / 1:01 (11:46) / 142avg
VFF jog @ the boneyard. Cold and snowy trails.

Tuesday
Run – 1 / :20 (20:00) / 121avg
TM hike
3 @ 4%
+10 dumbbells

Wednesday
Run – 1 / :20 (20:00) / 121avg
TM hike
3 @ 4%
+10 dumbbells

Thursday
Bike – 23.7 / 1:21 (17.4mph) / 155avg
MTB on roads. Ok ride. Legs very fresh, but didn’t last as long as I would like. Conditions were nice. Just a base layer, shorts and a jersey today. Put in a solid 17 mile effort in the middle with a 19.9 avg speed. Not bad on the knobby tires.

Stats for the lap:
17.4 / :52 (19.9mph) / 165avg

Friday
Run – 5.5 / :50 (9:14) / 154avg
Boneyard. Calves got so tight my feet went numb for a while. Not pleasant.

Saturday
Run – 12.3 / 1:54 (9:20) / 144avg
Got up at 05:30 to get this one in. Nice conditions. 2 big laps around the neighborhood. Felt slow but ok. Super tight calves, though.

Total Time – 5:48

Run – 25 / 4:26
Bike – 23.7 / 1:21

Pic of the week:

This is a reminder to train smart and not get injured. My weekly miles from fall 2010.

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Race Report: 2011 Rescue Run 10K

Jan 2

Posted by chrisboyack

Rolling out of bed prior to 07:00 on New Year’s Day is always tough, but for the 4th year in a row I got myself up and headed down to Colorado Springs to do the Rescue Run 10K. It’s a great way to kick off the new year. I had a long list of excuses as to why I shouldn’t go – the roads were bad, it was cold (single digits), I didn’t get to bed until 2, I only just started running again after letting some injuries heal – but I ended up going because I just wanted to get back into racing again. I’ve missed it. I knew I would likely be running my worst time on this course, but I still wanted to go anyway. Despite being over-fed and under-trained, I had a really good time.

I got in a good warm-up by running on some snow covered trails. I was a little late getting back to my car and almost missed the start. I had to sprint the last 100 yards just to catch the middle of the ~600 runner pack (5k +10k runners) as it began to move.

I felt good warming up, and seriously considered just putting in a couple of hours on the great trails.

The conditions were cold and icy, footing was tricky to say the least.

Only 5 degrees, but it didn't feel too bad out in the sun.

I stayed comfortable on the hilly course and never really felt a burn in my legs or my lungs. I had forgotten my watch and so was just running by feel – probably not pushing as hard as I should have, but I enjoyed taking in the awesome views of Pikes Peak and the surrounding area.

The downhills were a blast. Scary, but fun. I just let it roll and tried not to wipe out. It was slick!

Running down roads like this at top speed added a little pucker factor to the race.

I had been steadily passing people the whole race, and worked my way up to 25th place out of 269 finishers by the end. My time was 47:27, my slowest by far, but I came away satisfied with the effort and very glad to have made the trip. It was an absolute joy to be racing pain-free again for the first time in over two years. I had seriously forgotten what it’s like. Look out 2011.

Posted in race, run