2011 Training Log–Week 15
Best week of the year so far. Very high quality for me. This week had it all – doubles, VFF, barefoot, speedwork, a medium length tempo, and a solid trail run with a decent amount of climbing – and easy recovery days sprinkled in-between. Very happy with how things are going. I still have a few pounds to lose, but I can feel my body getting leaner and lighter. The legs are strong and keep begging for more. The only thing holding me back is my heel issues, but even they are improving. I keep pushing them to the edge, then letting them recover a bit before going again.
So with it being the middle of April, I figured it was high time for me to get my 2011 race schedule set (most people do this in October/November of the year before…). I’m excited to be feeling better and getting in some decent training. I decided to shake things up a little over previous years in terms of my Leadville approach. In the past, I have always used the whole summer to build up to a big peak for Pb in August. This year I’m going to race more, and also toss in a 100 miler in June. I want to get better at that distance, and at some level simply need to start running more of them to improve.
Here is the plan:
This Saturday – Cheyenne Mountain 50k. Going to train through this one and use it as a last long effort before CP.
May – Collegiate Peaks 50M. Not sure what to expect on this course. Thinking I’ll be happy with anything under 9:00.
June – Bighorn 100M. Awesome course and scenery. Will probably carry a camera on this one and look for a good steady effort while enjoying the trip.
July – North Fork 50M. Great trails. Missed this one last year and wanted to get in on it this time around. May be heading out for a week long backpacking trip in the Maroon Bells the Monday after the race.
August – Leadville 100M. Gotta get sub-24 this time.
| Monday Run – 11 / 1:38 / 142avg Good cruiser run at the boneyard. Going into it, I thought I would like to end up just under 9 min pace with a heart rate around 140. Pretty much hit that with 8:54 pace and 142 hr. Monday (2) |
| Tuesday Run – 7.7 / 1:12 / 142avg Great day. First true workout in a very long time. Did 4 x 1k with 2min rest followed by 4 x 1min hill repeats. Felt strong and smooth for the most part. Very happy to get in some faster running for a change and come out of it feeling good. The 1k repeats were on a slightly rolling tight singletrack trail with few turns. The hill was pretty mellow for the first half, then steeper for the second. I felt my way through the first couple of efforts, then pushed a little harder after that. .65 / 4:19 (6:37) / 159avg / 166max .19 / 1:06 (5:59) / 160avg / 171max |
| Wednesday Run – 7 / 1:13 / 114avg Nice easy recovery jog. Crazy-low heart rate today. |
| Thursday Run – 11.2 / 1:25 / 159avg Steady tempo. Pushed harder on some hills than I should have. Feeling lighter. Still a ways to go, but I can feel it coming back. Thursday (2) |
| Friday Run – 6.1 / 108 / 120avg Casual VFF jog at the Boneyard. |
| Saturday Run – 20.5 / 3:24 / 152avg Busy day today. Up early to help set up for the community Easter Egg Hunt. They were expecting over 1,000 kids to show up.
Then it was yard work, lunch, and a visit to the dog park for the Corgi Meetup. About two dozen Corgis showed up and our dog had a great time running, barking, and herding the other dogs around.
I was ready for a nap, but laced up the shoes and was out the door by two in the afternoon to hit the trails of Roxborough State Park. I ran from my house to the top of Carpenter Peak (8.6 mi, 91 min) and then added the South Rim loop for a little more distance. Great run (except for the heels as usual, those things felt like they were made of glass). I kept the effort level up on the climbs and on the descents as well. Nice to get a little bit of climbing in on the trails. |
| Sunday Run – 3 / :30 Easy recovery jog on the treadmill. |
| Total Time – 11:51
Bike – 0 / 0 |
 |
Pic of the week:
The Playground.
2011 Training Log–Week 14
Bit of a different week. No real long run, but three 2-2.5 hour days in a row at the end of the week. Got in some night running, a faster paced 15 miler, and a good day on the bike. Had a lot of scheduling to juggle due to several different things going on, but I made it happen. Even running past midnight a couple of days ago. Not posting huge numbers or anything, but 60+ running and a bike day is about right for me at this point. Will keep trying to bump the time and distance up week over week.
Going forward – feeling the need to start getting some climbing in. I haven’t done any to speak of in quite a while. Partly due to convenience and partly due to my calf and heel problems. We’ll see.
|
Monday |
|
Tuesday Split: |
|
Wednesday |
|
Thursday |
|
Friday |
|
Saturday |
|
Sunday |
| Total Time – 11:05
Bike – 27.7 / 1:23 |
 |
Pic of the week:
Taking in the view.
2011 Training Log–Week 13
Spent the early part of the week in recovery mode after the 12 hour race over the weekend. Never was all that sore, just super tired. Felt much better from Thursday on. So a fairly normal week, but scaled back a little. Ready to get back at it and start ramping up for the next race.
| Monday Run – 5 / :55 / 122avg Dreading this one. Feeling very tired after running 60 on Saturday and then getting home at 2 in the morning. Knew today’s run was a necessary evil, though. I’d be better off later in the week if I got out for some active recovery today. Not really all that sore, just feeling very well used. Shuffled along for an hour and babied the legs while getting some circulation going. |
| Tuesday Run – 7 / 1:04 / 133avg Really tired today, but got out anyway. Much better than yesterday. I didn’t have anything on the hills, but was suprised at how cruise-y the rest of the run felt. Recovery is going well. I probably need to mix in a bike day soon, though. |
| Wednesday Bike – 17 / 1:09 / 117avg Rolled around for a while on the mountain bike in the 30-40mph winds. Not fun. Didn’t enjoy anything about this ride, but knew it would help my recovery so kept with it. |
| Thursday Run – 10 / 1:26 / 152avg Almost felt back to normal today. Had a really nice run at the boneyard cruising lap after lap of hilly trails. The wind was huge, but it was helping on 2 out of the 3 climbs per lap so no complaints there. Couldn’t believe that just 3 days ago I was struggling with an 11-12 minute pace on the flats and now I held 8:45 for 10 miles of rolling trails while feeling pretty good doing it. My heels felt sorta decent and my calves never tightened up on me like they usually do when I run here. Me like. |
| Friday Bike – 27.7 / 1:27 / 140avg Rather than do a 20 mile push with a 20mph target on the mountain bike, or a 24mph target on the road bike, I opted to split the difference and shoot for 20 on the road bike. This would be easily accomplished without taking too big of toll since I’m still somewhat in recovery mode, but would still keep me honest. I ended up with a 21.2 average for 20 miles. Which was probably a touch too hard – especially with the wind and hills. I should have had a little more discipline and held it closer to 20, but the bike felt light and fast and I just went with it. Still didn’t work me over too bad. Split: |
| Saturday 16.1 / 2:41 / 139avg Out before dawn to run the Sharptail/Swallowtail loop from the house. Nice long mellow climbs, just right. Felt pretty decent. Nothing too snappy, but strong. Would have loved to stay out for another hour or two. Happy to be moving as well as I was just a week out from the 60 miler. |
| Sunday 3 / :40 / 120 Dog jog-walk. |
| Total time – 9:26
Run – 41 / 6:48 |
 |
Pic of the week:
I wanted to get a look at my footstrike pattern from a different angle, so I put the camera on the ground and ran towards it. I think I have a pretty good neutral midfoot landing, not much to tinker with there. What stands out to me in the pics, and what I have known for a long time, is that I push off too hard on the takeoff. I have been working on pulling my foot up with my quads and hips rather than pushing off so much with the ball of my foot. Running in the VFFs or barefoot helps this a lot, but I have a long way to go in that department. I have thick callouses on the medial side of my big toe and ball of my right foot. I push off way too much there and need to work on that some more, along with getting my left leg/foot more involved instead of just dragging them along for the ride.
The Scene Begins 