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)