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.