So when I don't update this thing that often is means one of two things- that I am either running a whole lot or not running at all. Fortunately it has been because I have been running and riding my mountain bike a whole lot. The last two weeks have just seen a slow increase in milage. I have also been working on my nutrition and hydration during my long runs and that is almost nailed down. I know, for sure, that it was a huge nutrition mistake that made Gunnison so terrible. Had I nailed the nutrition I'm almost certain that I could have hit 5.30 hours.
The week of June 6th- 12th wasn't a great week but it wasn't all that bad. For personal reasons, that I won't discuss here, I wasn't able to commit as much time or energy to training that I usually do. The week saw a little more biking then usual as well. The week included 4.15 hours of biking and 5.05 hours of running with a summit on Green, South Boulder, Bear, and Flagstaff. Not that great but still 9.20 hours.
The week of the 13th- 19th was much better, although it includes a failed trip to Leadville. The week broke down as follows:
Monday- 30 min easy run
Tuesday- off (seeming to become the usual rest day)
Wednesday- Pm- 4.50 hours with two trips up Green and two trips up Bear. Pm- 30 min easy run with my good friend Hana! It was all because of her that I was able to get through this run.
Thursday- Pm= 2.30 hours up Flag with some new loops up top. This was a funny run for one reason. As I was cruising around a bend at the top of the climb (wearing my typical backwards trucker hat and no shirt I caught the sight 4 girls all dressed in identical green dressed. Strange right. I had heard some people talking and just figured it was them. As I fully rounded the bend I realized what was up- I had pretty much ran right into a wedding- as the vows were being exchanged. I took a minute to take in the ceremony and slowly backtracked, I'm sure the bride's maids were checking me out! Pm- 55 min bike ride.
Friday- off. Headed out to Leadville, only to return at 5 am the next morning. I had failed to check the weather and spend the night freezing in a massive storm. FAIL!
Saturday- After a long drive home I didn't want to run. So I hoped on the mountain bike and got in 4 hours.
Sunday- Am- 5.00 hour run with Bear and South Boulder. PM (only about 45 min after my first run was done). 1.10 hours with Anna. A great run, and it was really nice to have the company! In total this run was about 28-30 miles.
The week totaled up:
Bike=4.55 hours
Run= 14.30 hours
Total= 19.25 hours
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
recovery, recovery, recovery
This last week hasn't seen much of anything. I few runs and a few bike rides but thats about it. My left foot got royally hurt after the Sage Burner so I have been nursing that injury. My muscles feel good, and mentally I'm ready to train again. The foot is starting to feel better so hopefully this week, June 6-12 goes well. I will keep you posted.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
back at it
So the last few weeks have been less then ideal. Lets start from the beginning:
From May 15th tell the end of the month didn't see much training. During that two week period I was just doing lots of short little runs and some mountain bike rides. Nothing too special, or of any significance. For the first time in the last six years I was enjoying being a "regular" college kid. I was just kinda chilling and really enjoying waking up in the morning and just relaxing and not having to go out and train for hours on end. It was pretty nice. During this time I was a bit worried about my future prospect of Mont- Blanc but I was just kinda going with it. Then it was race time!
With an overall lack of milage in my legs I joined about 300 other runners at 7:30 am in Gunnison, Colorado for a mass start of a 50k and 25k race. I was in the 50k. The gun went and the pain came! Here is how it broke down:
The first two miles were a pretty significant climb and I hammered them attempting to warm my legs up. This worked out pretty well and then I just settled into an easy all day pace (or so I thought). The first few aid stations flew by and I was sitting happy around 25th place. I was rocking the climbs and just cruising on the flats and downhills. It was all great until the mile 22 aid station. This is when the Sage Burner hit back....hard (well not so much the race, more of a personal mistake). From like 22 to 23 my legs began to cramp beyond belief. Every muscle was cramping and my toes were curled below my feet. I attempted to slam 4 gels and try to recover. But by the time cramps subsided my muscles were just dead. By the mile 25 aid station I was walking...only. From then I pretty much walked the entire rest of the race and preceded to get pasted by like everyone. It was pretty humiliating and I was mentally shelled. To give you an idea of what happened, I hit the 22 mile aid station in just over 4 hours then it took me 3.30 hours to finish the remaining 9 miles. About 7.45 hours or "running" total. The mistake? Nutrition. I was never tired, it was just my muscles failing on me. I have thought about this race a lot and have come to realize this. Before the race I ate a banana and half of a bagel and during the race 6 gels. Thats about 800 calories consumed throughout an 8 hour run. Way to little. I'm fairly certain the cramps came from a lack of electrolights and the failing muscles were from a complete depletion of glycogen stores. Over the next few weeks I'm going to experiment with eating real solid food during runs.
Also I need to give Taylor Horowitz his due glory. Taylor came out to Gunnison with me with no intention of running. I twisted his arm and he signed up the night before. He has been hammering the mountain bike and the gym but not much training. Well about 30 min after me, Taylor crossed the 50k finish line (he also ran in new shoes)! I would have to say that he earned the bad ass of the day award.
On Sunday Taylor and I spun on the mountain bike and then headed back to Boulder. I followed that up with a trip to Boulder Sports Acupuncture and had a great session with Steven Rizzolo.
Since that Sunday I have been off my feet. I could hardly walk for days and every little task required a huge effort to accomplish. Today, Wednesday 1st, I got out for a little 20 min run. It felt good to be out "running" again. The muscles are good, its just the bottoms of my feet that are trashed.
Finally, I would like to thank all the wonderful people at the Sage Burner and especially Andrew Hyde for his support around mile 23. He made the race for a lot of people!
From May 15th tell the end of the month didn't see much training. During that two week period I was just doing lots of short little runs and some mountain bike rides. Nothing too special, or of any significance. For the first time in the last six years I was enjoying being a "regular" college kid. I was just kinda chilling and really enjoying waking up in the morning and just relaxing and not having to go out and train for hours on end. It was pretty nice. During this time I was a bit worried about my future prospect of Mont- Blanc but I was just kinda going with it. Then it was race time!
With an overall lack of milage in my legs I joined about 300 other runners at 7:30 am in Gunnison, Colorado for a mass start of a 50k and 25k race. I was in the 50k. The gun went and the pain came! Here is how it broke down:
The first two miles were a pretty significant climb and I hammered them attempting to warm my legs up. This worked out pretty well and then I just settled into an easy all day pace (or so I thought). The first few aid stations flew by and I was sitting happy around 25th place. I was rocking the climbs and just cruising on the flats and downhills. It was all great until the mile 22 aid station. This is when the Sage Burner hit back....hard (well not so much the race, more of a personal mistake). From like 22 to 23 my legs began to cramp beyond belief. Every muscle was cramping and my toes were curled below my feet. I attempted to slam 4 gels and try to recover. But by the time cramps subsided my muscles were just dead. By the mile 25 aid station I was walking...only. From then I pretty much walked the entire rest of the race and preceded to get pasted by like everyone. It was pretty humiliating and I was mentally shelled. To give you an idea of what happened, I hit the 22 mile aid station in just over 4 hours then it took me 3.30 hours to finish the remaining 9 miles. About 7.45 hours or "running" total. The mistake? Nutrition. I was never tired, it was just my muscles failing on me. I have thought about this race a lot and have come to realize this. Before the race I ate a banana and half of a bagel and during the race 6 gels. Thats about 800 calories consumed throughout an 8 hour run. Way to little. I'm fairly certain the cramps came from a lack of electrolights and the failing muscles were from a complete depletion of glycogen stores. Over the next few weeks I'm going to experiment with eating real solid food during runs.
Also I need to give Taylor Horowitz his due glory. Taylor came out to Gunnison with me with no intention of running. I twisted his arm and he signed up the night before. He has been hammering the mountain bike and the gym but not much training. Well about 30 min after me, Taylor crossed the 50k finish line (he also ran in new shoes)! I would have to say that he earned the bad ass of the day award.
On Sunday Taylor and I spun on the mountain bike and then headed back to Boulder. I followed that up with a trip to Boulder Sports Acupuncture and had a great session with Steven Rizzolo.
Since that Sunday I have been off my feet. I could hardly walk for days and every little task required a huge effort to accomplish. Today, Wednesday 1st, I got out for a little 20 min run. It felt good to be out "running" again. The muscles are good, its just the bottoms of my feet that are trashed.
Finally, I would like to thank all the wonderful people at the Sage Burner and especially Andrew Hyde for his support around mile 23. He made the race for a lot of people!
Monday, May 16, 2011
the slow return (May 8-15th)
This last week was a brief glimmer of my formal training. It wasn't as great as I had hoped but right now I'm just trying to get back on my feet. I spent a bit more time on the bike this week then usual just trying to log more volume. The nice thing about riding bikes is the low impact doesn't affect my usually sensitive ankles and knees. By riding a bit more I was able to do a little more volume then running alone would allow. The week broke down as follows:
Monday- 2.45 hour bike ride
Tuesday- 2.15 hours. Green Mountain and a loop down bear creek
Wednesday- off
Thursday- off
Friday- AM- 3.40 hours. Green, Bear, South Boulder, then back to Green. 5,500 vertical gain. Some snow at the tops of the peaks made for slow running and some hiking.
PM- 1 hour on the bike
Saturday- 1.30 hours. Ran up and down Eldora Ski area. Crap conditions. It was like 30 degrees and rain/ snow.
Pm- 30 min on the bike.
Sunday- do to some extraneous circumstances I didn't run or ride today.
Not a good week, but certainly not the best week. Right now I'm not 100% mentally with it. The last week has been a struggle but hopefully things will start looking up.
May 14th running:
Really!?
Monday- 2.45 hour bike ride
Tuesday- 2.15 hours. Green Mountain and a loop down bear creek
Wednesday- off
Thursday- off
Friday- AM- 3.40 hours. Green, Bear, South Boulder, then back to Green. 5,500 vertical gain. Some snow at the tops of the peaks made for slow running and some hiking.
PM- 1 hour on the bike
Saturday- 1.30 hours. Ran up and down Eldora Ski area. Crap conditions. It was like 30 degrees and rain/ snow.
Pm- 30 min on the bike.
Sunday- do to some extraneous circumstances I didn't run or ride today.
Not a good week, but certainly not the best week. Right now I'm not 100% mentally with it. The last week has been a struggle but hopefully things will start looking up.
May 14th running:
Really!?
Monday, May 9, 2011
Back at it
School is finally over! As I already mentioned, the last two weeks completely sucked. I'm on the slow rebound and starting to get the miles in again. This week was a fairly easy week. The goal was to gradually increase the milage and avoid injury. It broke down like this:
Monday (May 2nd)- 30 min just cruising.
Tuesday- 1.20 hours. Got a PR on Green today. 48.06 min. Good run and was pumped about the PR. I thought my fitness would be shot but this was a nice confidence booster.
Wednesday- 1.35 hours. Flagstaff and Green. Was hurting a bit after yesterday's effort so just took it easy today.
Thursday- Off- decided after two good days to give the legs a break. I have pushed it too hard too early in the past and suffered injury from it, so with this that in mind, I took the day off.
Friday- 1.20 hours on the bike. Cruised the road bike. I was out climbing Mangnolia Road as they called my name at graduation. A somber ride as I contemplated where I have been and where I am going. Alone with my thoughts, up in the mountains, is the perfect place to think.
Saturday- 1.30 hours. Green mountain. Started roughly 2 min farther away then usual and still hit the top in 50.45 min. That puts me at another sub 49 min summit. I was pleased with this run because I had a pounding headache the entire time and nearly turned around many times.
Sunday- 1.00 hours. Just cruised.
In total:
Run- 6.05
Bike- 1.20 hours
Total- 7.25 hours.
Not the most volume but a good start to the come back. I wish I had logged more hours but I needed to keep myself in check, with a PR and 3 summits on green I think we can say it was a good week.
I leave you with a little self portrait:
If you were to take a picture as I walked across the stage at CU Boulder's graduation I wouldn't be in it. This is my graduation picture (taken as they called my name).
Monday (May 2nd)- 30 min just cruising.
Tuesday- 1.20 hours. Got a PR on Green today. 48.06 min. Good run and was pumped about the PR. I thought my fitness would be shot but this was a nice confidence booster.
Wednesday- 1.35 hours. Flagstaff and Green. Was hurting a bit after yesterday's effort so just took it easy today.
Thursday- Off- decided after two good days to give the legs a break. I have pushed it too hard too early in the past and suffered injury from it, so with this that in mind, I took the day off.
Friday- 1.20 hours on the bike. Cruised the road bike. I was out climbing Mangnolia Road as they called my name at graduation. A somber ride as I contemplated where I have been and where I am going. Alone with my thoughts, up in the mountains, is the perfect place to think.
Saturday- 1.30 hours. Green mountain. Started roughly 2 min farther away then usual and still hit the top in 50.45 min. That puts me at another sub 49 min summit. I was pleased with this run because I had a pounding headache the entire time and nearly turned around many times.
Sunday- 1.00 hours. Just cruised.
In total:
Run- 6.05
Bike- 1.20 hours
Total- 7.25 hours.
Not the most volume but a good start to the come back. I wish I had logged more hours but I needed to keep myself in check, with a PR and 3 summits on green I think we can say it was a good week.
I leave you with a little self portrait:
If you were to take a picture as I walked across the stage at CU Boulder's graduation I wouldn't be in it. This is my graduation picture (taken as they called my name).
Monday, May 2, 2011
Inconsistent training, Consistent school
Back at it.
The last two weeks have been pretty much consistent school work. The week of April 17-23 marked an all time high week of training. Got in 16 hours...solid. Hit about 45 miles over the weekend alone. After August 24th everything went to hell. From the 24th on school dominated my life. Over the last two weeks I have got in around 6 hours of training. But, with the end of school comes to the rebirth of training. So I am now resting up and slowly rebuilding my fitness. There is still some lingering fatigue (from all the school work) but I can now dedicate a great deal of time to rest and rebuilding a solid base. Things are starting to look up, and I'm overly excited about finding new legs in preparation for the races to come.
On a different note, had a great graston treatment with Brent at Synch Chiropractic. He did a number on my back. The graston really helps loosen up all the tightness in my back. And yes, it hurts like hell.
The last two weeks have been pretty much consistent school work. The week of April 17-23 marked an all time high week of training. Got in 16 hours...solid. Hit about 45 miles over the weekend alone. After August 24th everything went to hell. From the 24th on school dominated my life. Over the last two weeks I have got in around 6 hours of training. But, with the end of school comes to the rebirth of training. So I am now resting up and slowly rebuilding my fitness. There is still some lingering fatigue (from all the school work) but I can now dedicate a great deal of time to rest and rebuilding a solid base. Things are starting to look up, and I'm overly excited about finding new legs in preparation for the races to come.
On a different note, had a great graston treatment with Brent at Synch Chiropractic. He did a number on my back. The graston really helps loosen up all the tightness in my back. And yes, it hurts like hell.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
A week In review April 4th-10th
This week wasn't great. A few external factors got in the way of training this week, but the main two were school and what felt like a twinge of overtraining. As many of my friends, and ex-coaches know, I am a chronic "overtrainer". At one point I was so overtrained I had to take three weeks of the bike and averaged about 13-14 hours of sleep per day. I am determined to start listing to my body and letting it rest when it needs it. I'm getting better about listening to my body but I still push through pain and fatigue to get the hours in, and sometimes this backfires. With that is mind, I decided to take every other day off and see how I felt. The week broke down like this:
Monday- off
Tuesday- 2.05 hours. Took the long way up Green and the Saddle Rock trail down. This run sucked. It was during this run that I knew something was up. I posted 1.15 hours for the long way up Green- an all time slow. Terrible to say the least.
Wednesday- off
Thursday- A 2.00 hour and $67 mountain bike ride with Taylor Horowitz and Drew Hogg. This ride wasn't epic but it was certainly interesting. Way up in Walker Ranch, almost at the same time, Taylor took a nice little fall and I blew my chain to bites. So I ended up working on my tucking skills and bombed down the Link Trail and Canyon Road to Boulder sans chain. I still managed to beat Taylor and Drew down the Canyon but I feel like they gave me that victory! We followed that up with a trip to the bike store to get a new chain and then cruised campus and holla'ed at all the fine honeys! Nothing more sexy then professional bike rides with shaved legs- the girls knew what was up!
Friday-Off
Saturday- Am 2.20 hours. PM 30 min. Ran Shadow Canyon to South Boulder then Bear Peak. Bombed down Fern canyon and cruised the Mesa trail home. This was a fun and pretty fast run. That afternoon I just cruised the south Boulder roads.
Sunday- 2.30 hour mountain bike ride. After a night of bull riding at shooters I wasn't really feeling like a long run. So with a perfectly timed text from Taylor we hit good ol' Walker Ranch...again. This time no falls or mechanicals. A solid day.
Run-4.55 hours
Bike-4.30
Total-9.25 hours
This week saw a little more biking then normal. I have found that the bike is so much easier on the body and is a good way to get some training in while feeling overtrained. The rest proved beneficial and I'm starting to feel better again. Sometimes you have to cut the losses and take a week easy. Its always better to have a low milage week rather then to push through it and have to take more time off. Looking to hit 14 or 15 hours next week.
Monday- off
Tuesday- 2.05 hours. Took the long way up Green and the Saddle Rock trail down. This run sucked. It was during this run that I knew something was up. I posted 1.15 hours for the long way up Green- an all time slow. Terrible to say the least.
Wednesday- off
Thursday- A 2.00 hour and $67 mountain bike ride with Taylor Horowitz and Drew Hogg. This ride wasn't epic but it was certainly interesting. Way up in Walker Ranch, almost at the same time, Taylor took a nice little fall and I blew my chain to bites. So I ended up working on my tucking skills and bombed down the Link Trail and Canyon Road to Boulder sans chain. I still managed to beat Taylor and Drew down the Canyon but I feel like they gave me that victory! We followed that up with a trip to the bike store to get a new chain and then cruised campus and holla'ed at all the fine honeys! Nothing more sexy then professional bike rides with shaved legs- the girls knew what was up!
Friday-Off
Saturday- Am 2.20 hours. PM 30 min. Ran Shadow Canyon to South Boulder then Bear Peak. Bombed down Fern canyon and cruised the Mesa trail home. This was a fun and pretty fast run. That afternoon I just cruised the south Boulder roads.
Sunday- 2.30 hour mountain bike ride. After a night of bull riding at shooters I wasn't really feeling like a long run. So with a perfectly timed text from Taylor we hit good ol' Walker Ranch...again. This time no falls or mechanicals. A solid day.
Run-4.55 hours
Bike-4.30
Total-9.25 hours
This week saw a little more biking then normal. I have found that the bike is so much easier on the body and is a good way to get some training in while feeling overtrained. The rest proved beneficial and I'm starting to feel better again. Sometimes you have to cut the losses and take a week easy. Its always better to have a low milage week rather then to push through it and have to take more time off. Looking to hit 14 or 15 hours next week.
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