Week Ending Sept. 16

This was the best week of training I've had possibly all year.  Everything went exactly as I had planned and hoped.  It doesn't hurt that I've been pretty inspired recently.  It's September.  It's cross country season.  It's the leaves changing and the crisp autumn air...there is no better time to run.  When I'm checked-in and inspired, this is almost too easy.  When I'm out enjoying it and having fun, it isn't difficult.  And even the difficult stuff is great.  Why not thrash myself a little?  Embrace and enjoy that pain and fatigue.  It's life affirming.

I'm going to back off a tad this week going into Jelm so I can hopefully have moderately fresh legs for the race.  After that, the plan is another two-week build-up before another easier week heading into Silent Trails.  I'd like to find a race at the end of October/early November.  I'll be out in Portland at the end of October and that weekend there is the Autumn Leaves 50/50.  It would be cool to travel to a race, and this particular one is at sea level on a very fast course.  However, it's the course that bothers me a bit.  It just seems...boring.  Five 10K laps on paved bike paths seems uninspiring to me.  That said, it would be interesting to hop in a 50K like that and see how fast I could do it.  

One more good, longer race before winter settles in would be nice.  I'll have to look around.

Mon. Sept. 10 - 6 miles in :42.  Fenceline loop in the prairie after work.  Easy recovery run.

Tues. Sept. 11 - 11.5 miles in 1:13.  Track workout.  Warm-up from home to the UW track.  Some active stretching with 4x100m build-ups.  The program was 1M, 2x(3x800m), 1M.  I took 4 min rest between the 1M and the first set of 800s, took 30 seconds rest between the 800 reps, and 4 minutes between the two sets of 800s as well as between the 800s and the final mile.  On those rests I jogged a 400.  This workout felt really good.  Splits were: 5:46, 2:48, 2:46, 2:44, 2:41, 2:40, 2:40, 5:40.  Cool down run home.  Again, everything was smooth and controlled.  After all these years, I am finally starting to figure out that there is a difference between running fast and running hard.  You want to run fast.  Running hard will usually get you hurt, burned-out, or both.

Wed. Sept. 12 - 7 miles in :50.  I had a dentist appointment early in the morning in Cheyenne, so I spent the night over there and got up early to run. A cold front with lots of rain rolled in the previous afternoon and was thoroughly socked-in when I rolled out for this one.  It was chilly and I was soaked by the end, but an easy loop around the two parks (Lions and Frontier) in the rain was actually kind of refreshing.  I've always liked running in the rain.  I'm sure if I lived somewhere that it rained more often, I wouldn't be quite as cheery about it.

Thurs. Sept. 13 - 10 miles in 1:19.  I parked at the Yellow Pine campground trail head and ran down Pole Creek to La Puta.  Then I did 2x the climb.  I hit the first ascent in 12:50 and the second one in 12:30.  The 12:30 is the fastest I've climbed in...years.  I feel like I'm getting some climbing legs back under me.

Fri. Sept. 14 - 6.5 miles in :45.  Met Jefe at the UW track for a quick form workout.  2x form drills with 4x200m strides with 200m jogs between.  Efficient 39 seconds per on the strides.  Then I ran home.  Easy.

Sat. Sept. 15 - 15 miles in 1:55.  Jefe and I met at Blair Picnic Area for a Trudge loop.  We started late morning (~11am) as it was getting a little warm out.  I felt really good on the Trudge loop, hammered all the climbs, and came back to Blair in 1:21 to drop off Jefe and refill my water bottle.  Then I went out Cow Trail for about 20 minutes before turning around and coming back.  It feels good to get in a productive long run.

Sun. Sept. 16 - 8 miles in 1:54.  I have to run on the anniversary of the accident, so Elizabeth and I went up to the Snowys and I ran Medicine Bow Peak.  I started at Lewis Lake, then ran the Lakes Trail to Lake Marie, then climbed up the peak from there.  Then I ran down back to Lewis Lake.  

Snowy Range, Mid-September.

I last did this June 10, and was cautious at the time because I had just started running again after my hip injury.  That day, the run took me 2:30, so to come back at the end of the summer and take 36 minutes off my time is pretty good.  I'll take it.

I decided that I was going to let go of the sadness and anger more and focus on what's here and now.  Whatever the reason that may eventually reveal itself to be, I am still here and should be enjoying this life I have.  It's the only one I'll get, so I better take advantage of it.  And what better way to remember and honor those guys and their lives than by living mine better.  Go run, be happy, get shit done, and love those around me.  It's been a year of philosophical shifts for me, and this is a major part.

Totals
Miles: 64 (8:38)
Year to Date: 1224 (143:27)

Gear: Asics Sky Speed (432 miles), Saucony Peregrine 2 (276 miles), Asics SpeedStar 6 (14 miles)

Week Ending Sept. 9

No big adventures this week.  Just some consistent training.  I can't predict what will happen next weekend on Jelm, but I believe that I will be heading into that race in the best shape I've been in since I won it back in 2008.

Summary of the week:

Tues. Sept. 4 - 6 miles in :44.  Tuesday Night Trails.  Sandra and I were the only ones who showed up and considering our respective running paces are different, I ran by myself.  I had plans to go eight or nine miles, but once I had gone out Headquarters, Summit, and down Super Secret, I decided I wasn't feeling ambitious enough to add Pole Creek to the loop and instead opted for the climb up Haunted Forest and back to the car.  Meh.

Wed. Sept. 5 - 10 miles in 1:05.  Tempo run workout on the Greenbelt early in the morning.  So early, in fact, I was out just as the sun was coming up, and the first ten or fifteen minutes of the run were cold!  Fall is here.  I did a three-mile warm-up around the southern loop, then hit a four-mile tempo in 24:03, then the southern loop again for a cool down.  I was very pleased with this one.  The 5:50-6:00/mile pace is pretty comfortable right now.  I'm not sure where the individual mile markers are on this route, but it's an out and back, so I do know what my two-mile splits were.  First two in 12:12 and second two in 11:51.  Negative splits are ALWAYS a good thing.

Thurs. Sept. 6 - 9 miles in 1:09.  Pole Creek/La Puta/Summit loop.  I felt pretty decent going down Pole Creek and climbing The Bitch, but once over the hump, the run back into Tie City was blah.  Tired and a little checked-out.  I felt like I climbed well in 13:03, which, while a little faster than two weeks ago, wasn't as fast as I felt I was running.  I thought I was sub-13 for sure.  Oh well.

Fri. Sept. 7 - 4 miles in 28:33.  Easy post-work run on the Greenbelt.  I flirted with taking the day off, but figured a few miles couldn't hurt.  Did a thorough core workout after.

Sat. Sept. 8 - 10.5 miles in 1:28.  Jelm Mountain Recon.  I try to get up Jelm at least once before the race every year, and this was the first time I could fit it into my schedule.  This is always hard to get focused on because mentally I know what it feels like.  I know that it's going to suck for around 45-minutes.  I started off feeling okay, but by the second climb, a little over a mile in, I was sluggish.  I plugged away until just past where the middle aid station is and perked up a little.  I had about one good mile in there before I tanked again.  I got to the top in :50 not feeling great or very confident with that effort.  I downed a gel and started back down.  In order to avoid destroying my legs, I went down conservatively in :38 (I've descended in :28 on race day before).  My pre-race run up Jelm last year was done in :52 and :37.  Not much different.

I'm going to chalk it up to being a little tired with from this current training cycle.  Also, the reason I like to get up the mountain before race day is because I believe, as Jim Sanchez would say, "You've gotta wake the body up!"  It's difficult to truly train to climb over 2K feet in five miles, so sometimes I just have to shock the body a little, and, since I've experienced it before, hopefully a little muscle memory will take over.  I also approach this run differently on race day.  It's easier to do it when I'm pumped up and focused on racing.  It's a little hard to wrap my mind around it when I'm out there by myself.

Sun. Sept. 9 - 12.5 miles in 1:40.  Long run on the Gowdy trails with Chris Schabron.  I picked Chris up in Cheyenne and we enjoyed a beautiful morning on some great trails.  We hit up Stone Temple, Crow Creek, Mo' Rocka, Foxtail, Skin & Bones, Hidden Falls, Albert's Alley, El Alto, Igneoramus, and Rock N' Roller.  Did some scrambling in a couple of the play areas and Hidden Falls, and enjoyed the view from the Scenic Overlook off El Alto.  As I said, it was a gorgeous morning out there.  There is no better running to be had than on early fall days on Wyoming trails.

Totals
Miles: 52 (6:35)
Year to Date: 1160 (134:49)

Gear: Asics Sky Speed (420 miles), Saucony Peregrine 2 (237 miles)

Weeks Ending Aug. 26 and Sept. 2 - Mumford & Sons, Antelope Dash, and a Wedding

Another busy couple of weeks.  I now have a couple of weeks of down time.  I have work and running.  That's really it.  Elizabeth will be out of town this weekend, so I think the best use of my time will be to head up to the mountains, sleep in the back of my pick-up, and run some trail miles.  I plan to get up Jelm for the first time as well.  Yes, I still haven't done that.

Training-wise, the past couple weeks have been pretty decent.  Been running 40+ mpw comfortably.  I did slack this past weekend when I was back in Iowa for my cousin Abby's wedding, but I spent two days in the car, Iowa was freaking hot and muggy (I don't run well in temps over 85, but humidity absolutely slays me), I was pretty time-crunched, and there really are no places to run back there.  Granted I haven't spent much effort in looking.

Three weeks until Jelm.  My plan is to run as much comfortably as I can, get up Jelm a couple times before the race, do one tempo or track workout a week to help with the middle miles, and get those long runs in once a week.  I don't know what Horsecow has been up to, but regardless of our battle royale, I believe he and I will be racing for places.  Sam Malmberg is looking awfully damn fit this summer.  

Mon. Aug. 20 - 4 miles in :28.  Shake-out run after work on the Greenbelt.

Tues. Aug. 21 - 7 miles in :47.  Two-mile warm-up, three-mile tempo in 17:33 (5:53, 5:52, 5:50), two-mile cool down on the Greenbelt at lunch.  I was very happy with how good this felt.

Tuesday was also Mumford & Sons night in Laramie.  Yes, that Mumford & Sons, on their brief US tour, played at the Gryphon Theatre in Laramie.  They had two sold-out shows at Red Rocks the following week, yet came to Laramie and played to 900 folks in a refurbished high school auditorium.  And for the sake of brevity, it was amazing.  One of the best shows I have ever seen.

Wed. Aug. 22 - 9 miles in 1:07.  Elizabeth and I went to the trails after work. She hiked and ran while I ran La Puta.  Made the climb in 13:11, which I was pleased to see because my legs felt junky after the previous day's tempo run and two hours worth of standing at the Mumford & Sons show.

Thurs. Aug. 23 - 4 miles in :30.  Easy day.  Pretty tired.

Sat. Aug. 25 - 9 miles in 1:06.  Antelope Dash 8M.  I got up to Curt Gowdy with time to hook-up with Mr. Schabron for a quick mile warm-up.  We took a wrong turn right at the start, which was something that plagued the races this year.  The course was marked, just not very well and in a somewhat confusing and not blatantly obvious way.  That aside, I took the lead from the start and lead Nik and a new kid named Neil on the first couple of miles around Stone Temple Circuit and Crow Creek.  Once on Mo' Rocka, the undulating terrain started to make me keenly aware that I had started too fast.  I red-lined around halfway and let Neil and Nik around me.  

8M start.  A few seconds before our first wrong turn.  Photo by Randy Craft.

Schabby and The Kid take it out!  Photo by Randy Craft.

At that point, Schabby, who was wise and started more conservatively, caught me and passed me.  I spent a couple miles hanging on by a thread, staying within 20 or 30 meters of him, but was pretty convinced Schabby was going to get me on this day.  However, with about a mile to go, we went up one last uphill section and Schab faded.  I got a little second wind and overtook him to finish in third in 56:30.  Schab was next in 56:43.

Powering off Igneoramus.  Photo by Wendy Perkins.

Enjoying our Saturday morning.  Photo by Wendy Perkins.

3rd.  Photo by Wendy Perkins.

Sun. Aug 26 - 11 miles in 1:28.  Patrick and I got up early for a Trudge Loop (or two, in his case).  It was an absolutely beautiful morning on the loop, filled with lots of wildlife.  We saw two bull elk, deer, hawks, vultures, turkeys, a cow and calf moose, and a couple of college coeds passed-out in sleeping bags on the Twin Mountain trail.  I hurdled one of them.  She didn't even wake up.  My knees were a little trashed from the race the day before, so I bid Patrick adieu to run the second loop by his lonesome.

Mon. Aug. 27 - 12 miles in 1:14.  Track workout.  My house to the UW track makes for a three-mile warm-up.  Quick active stretching then 4x100 build-ups.  The program was 2x(1600, 1200, 1000) with 4 min rest between reps (I jogged a 400 during those rests) and 5 min between sets.  I hit set one in 5:39, 4:06, 3:16 and set two in 5:36, 4:00, 3:13.  Three-mile cool down back home.  I was extremely pleased with this workout.  It felt fluid; I didn't feel like I struggled at any point.  It also marks the first time on the track for me since April.

Tues. Aug. 28 - A.M. - 3 miles in :21 with core workout.

P.M.- 6.5 miles in :49.  Tuesday Night Trails.  Jefe and I ran a relaxed Headquarters-Browns-Summit loop.  Saw a coyote.  Nice little evening.

Wed. Aug. 29 - 11 miles in 1:27.  Big Headquarters-Pole Creek loop.  I was pretty tired and sluggish on this one.  Feeling the previous week.

Thurs. Aug. 30 - 8 miles in :55.  Lunch run in the prairie.  Did the powerline climb.  I felt very good considering how tired I was the day before.

I front-loaded this week since I was heading out to Iowa and knew that I would get no running done.  I never do when I go out there.  I should have forced myself to do something, but I didn't.  I am a slacker.  But hey, here's a photo of the Driver clan:

It's pretty much the whole fam-damily.  Minus my sister.