The 70 mile week sandwich

I began and ended my week with the same run / 7.5 mile course.  Sandwiched in between those 2 runs were 3 long runs that when looking back - were tough to chew and swallow, but once digested - should sit well in my belly.

Sunday began with the 7 1/2 mile run I have out the back of my apartment that is a lollipop course with over 600' of gain in it.  It was a breezy start into a wind so I started out just grinding the first few miles.  I woke up eventually and got my legs under me, starting to feel strong so I pushed the effort a bit as I continued and ended up taking 1 3/4 minutes off my previous best effort.  Was pleased with that.

No run on Monday, Tuesday I was off work.  Picked up a kid and dropped her off at school and then drove to Mt Herman trailhead.  It was warm already by 9 am as I got started.  First lap was a moderate effort on the 8 mile loop for a 1:49 time.  Second lap started out okay although as always was difficult on the 1600'+ climb up to the summit starting out the lap.  I tried to stay with a moderate effort and measured pace and was doing well.  With 3 miles to go I was tracking a new PR, feeling fatigued though.  Problem was - I had 3 miles to go, and then another lap.

By the time I finished up lap 2 I had slowed and my time for the lap ended up being 1:57 - now 1 minute behind my 3 lap PR.  And by now the wheels had feeling off and I was toast.  I needed to finish this run though, trying to convince myself that even though my final time was going to suck - I needed to build my endurance and time on my feet.  Problem still was I had to gain the summit.  What a slog.  It was miserable as I was so weary.  I stopped several times - barely resisting the temptation to sit down, lie down, pass out.

I kept moving, slowly and finally got to the high point.  I meandered my way down the other side managing to run when I could.  As I made my way around the back of the mountain I ran the downhill's and flat sections - walked slowly up the uphill's.  If it wasn't for the fact that I needed to pick up the same kid from school I would have taken much longer than I ended up doing.  Lap 3 was 2:19.  Total time was 6 hours, 5 minutes.  24 miles.  Over 7000' of gain.  I barely made it to school on time to pick up the kid.  What a long day.

The one good thing about this "run" was that I wasn't sore afterwards, just weary.  Very, very weary.

Wednesday a rest day and then Thursday my next long run of the week.  13 miles on Falcon Trail.  I went counter clockwise and started out the first miles feeling slow and sluggish but as I got into the climbing section of the South end of the loop I felt better and went to work.  5 miles in and I figured I had an outside shot of getting halfway / to the high point in 60 minutes.  I had only managed that once before.  I ended up missing it by a few seconds for a 60:05 to the 6 1/2 mile mark - redlining the effort over the last /2 mile which resulted in once I crested the high point - taking a minute to walk and catch my breath.

I dialed it back while still maintaining a moderate to hard effort for the last 6 1/2 miles and ended up with a lap time of 1:54:45.  One of my faster times in recent months.  Best since mid June.  This was a good run and helped with a confidence boost after Tuesdays effort.

Friday I did a moderate effort for 18 miles on Santa Fe Trail.  Started at Northgate and went up to Palmer Lake and back.  Out in 80 minutes at 8:52 pace.  Turned - it was mid 80 degrees by now - and upped the effort to 8 minute pace for the next 3 miles.  I though about trying to come the whole way back at that effort but fatigue caught up so I gradually slowed down and ended up finishing the last 9 miles at an 8:13 average.  Total distance 18 miles.  2 hours 34 minutes.

Today (Saturday) I finished off the 70 mile week with the same run I started out the week with.  After a sluggish and slow start I dialed it up and ended up with a 63 minute lap - 65 seconds slower than last time.  A good work out to cap of a week with some really hard work in it.

So - the meat of training is over - less miles on tap this upcoming week - I'll look to work hard on most, if not all of the upcoming miles this week.  Want to stay sharp.  Still don't feel quite up to where I was going into the last 50K race in June, would like another couple of weeks of long training runs like the past 2 weeks - but will take what I have managed to get in - and look forward to the Stump Jump 50K 2 weeks from today - with expectations of being somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 minutes slower to 5 minutes faster than the last race.

70 mile week in the books

Longest week of mileage since way back in the last week of May.  The theme for the week was double's.  As in double loops of local trails. 

Sunday: started the week with an easy shakeout run of 4 1/2 miles in 40 minutes on the trail behind my apartment.  A crisp 43 degree morning, beautiful and sunny skies.  The run was just a shakeout run from the heavy workload of the week before.  That week was more than just covering 60 miles, it was about working hard on just about all of those miles.  As a result I was tired - for days afterwards, including this morning's run.

Tuesday: took a rest day the day before and then did a double loop of Falcon Trail.   26 miles in 4 1/2 hours.  Still felt slow and weary throughout, caught up to me in lap 2 and so I ended up walking a lot of it.

Wednesday: A double loop of Mt Herman.  16 miles in 3 hours, 49 minutes - with 4700'+ of gain.  Felt better on this run than the day before, yet was still a very physically taxing effort.

Friday: took a needed rest day on Thursday.  Friday morning woke up to this....

First snow of the season.

Drove up through Palmer Lake to the Greenland Trail and did 2 laps.

Not as much snow here at the Greenland Trail parking lot.

First lap was a slow and measured effort for a 1:08 loop (8 miles).  Then I pushed harder on the second lap and did a 1:06.  The last mile I decided to really push and managed a sub 7 effort.

Saturday was a long day - drive a kid up to Steamboat Springs for a soccer game.  I got in 5 miles on Santa Fe Trail before we left for the 3 1/2 hour drive.  Got there early for the game so I managed to get 2 1/2 miles in along the Yampa River while waiting for the game to start.  Steamboat is a nice town - Mt Werner overlooking  it was impressive, the Run Rabbit Run race going on while we were there.

Mt. Werner.  Would like to have had time to run / hike up it.

70 miles for the week without the intensity of the week before - but feeling sluggish on almost all of the runs.  One more week of 70 miles on tap for this week.  Hopefully will feel a little stronger.  Still don't feel ready for the 50K coming up and I may not get to the start line fully where I want to be - but should hopefully not be too far off.


Doubling up

Double trouble.  Double the fun.  The Daily Double.  A Double take.  Double or Nothing.  Double Vision.  Double Down.  Double Up......I could go on.  Lots of things to reference with Doubles.

The last two days I pulled off a noteworthy double double of sorts for me.  Not just because it was something that I haven't ever done before.  But because it was really good endurance training - for me at least.

Not that it all went well.

Tuesday:  I am fortunate to live just a few minutes from the entrance to the Air Force Academy where the Falcon Trail is a favorite trail of mine to train and run on.  When I tack on a loop of the parking lot it is a 13 mile run - with 1300'+ of elevation gain that gives added work to a good 2 or so hour run on a really nice trail that is usually not very travelled upon during mid-week.

I had run only once since last Friday - that one run was just an easy and short-ish effort.  So I expected to go into this Tuesday's run with some pep.  Didn't happen.  I started out feeling tired, not really feeling slow, but just feeling fatigued.  Maybe not enough sleep and/or not eating well the previous couple of days.  I stuck to what felt like an easy to moderate effort and ended up with a 2:05 lap going counter clockwise.  In hindsight this was too fast.  But it didn't feel too fast - it just felt tiring.  I possibly should have stopped, but I had the day off work and wanted a long run. 

I turned and was now heading clockwise for a 2nd lap.  I tried to be conservative and really slow down the effort in order to keep moving without walking.  It seemed to work for almost 4 miles - then I couldn't muster any effort or desire to run any further.  So I resorted to walking, a lot.  Every now and then I convinced myself to run / jog.  Sometimes I even ran for a mile or so.  I also walked for larger sections.  I seem to bonk each and every time I try a Double Falcon run.  Don't know what it is - I'm sure the 26 miles has a lot to do with it, but I also believe I have a mental roadblock built into it.

What had the potential to be a new 2 lap PR (old one is about 4:15) quickly went by the wayside.

I kept moving alternating walking with running and feeling like I would never make it back to my car.  Finally with 3 1/3 miles to go of almost all downhill with the exception of the last 1/2 mile I convinced myself to move - and maintained a slow run / shuffle all they way to the end, including the last 1/2 mile of misery.  2nd lap was 2:25 almost for a 4 1/2 hour total for the 26 miles.

I lay down on the picnic table in the parking lot after I was done - and if it wasn't for not having any fluids left - would have gladly stayed there and easily fallen asleep.

Wednesday:  Much better sleep the night before.  But woke to rain and 46 degrees.  I waited until just after 9 am - had the day off work so I could afford to get a late start - the rain stopped as I pulled into a parking area at the foot of Mt Herman. 

I started out slow - way slow - really wanting to pace myself for this days effort.  I wasn't feeling too sore or even overly tired from the day before.  I also wasn't feeling overly peppy either though.  The 1700' climb up the first 1.3 miles was and always will be a wake up and get it over and done with section of the 8 mile loop.  The trail was a little slick in places but by the time I reached the summit the clouds had lifted and the sun came out.

This brightened my spirits and I continued over the Southwest side of the mountain and onto the lap.  I felt okay and managed to get into a steady rhythm - finishing the first lap only 30 or so seconds slower than last weeks first of 2 laps.  Today I was also doing 2 laps - but last week I had not been out for 4 1/2 hours and 26 miles the day before.

Needless to say my second lap - particularly the climb back up to the summit was slow.  The weather was good and clear now and I had shed a full layer of clothes at the beginning of lap 2.  After I came back down the mountain and neared the approach to Limbach Canyon I ran up on and passed 3 mountain bikers struggling up the trail.  I saw them from about a 1/4 mile away and they worked as a good motivation to keep me from walking. 

I always have a sick satisfaction of passing people on bikes - gives me an ego boost thinking that my foot power is stronger than their pedal power.  It may be the case on steep uphill terrain - certainly not on downhills though.  In any case - I passed by them, cheerfully saying good morning and trying to make it look like my effort was so much easier than theirs.

Minutes later I was heading downhill - moments after that they came flying by me.

Fun was over - just keep moving.  I did, fairly well even.  It wasn't till about 2 miles to go that I let my mind give way to my weary legs and resorted to walking some of the uphills.  I didn't walk too much though - I had more of an attitude of just get this done with.  So my second lap ended up being only a couple of minutes slower than lap one.  Overall time for the 16 mile, 2 lap effort (with over 4650' of gain) was 3:49.

For my double double I did a combined 42 miles, over 6300' of gain and 8 hours, 19 minutes of movement on the trails.  I have never run this back to back workload in the space of a 2 day period ever.  I'm thinking it was a good investment in the endurance-o-meter bank.

Needless to say - was quite tired afterwards.  Glad it was over.  Looking forward to another good night sleep and a rest day tomorrow.  I have another double lap of a nearby loop in mind for early Friday morning. 

A good week of training hard in the books

With now less than 4 weeks to go till the 50K this past week was a tall task for me.  Started with pacing the American Discovery Trail marathon on Monday and maintaining a sub 8 minute pace for 26.3 miles.  That really worked my legs as well as that mental wasteland that is my brain for the 3 1/2 hours.  I possibly benefitted more psychologically than physically due to the need to stay focused on pace, effort and being engaged mentally throughout the entire run.  Afterwards the legs were cooked quite well as well as my brain.  But I was encouraged - despite missing the mark by a mere 6 seconds.  I had run better than I thought I could and would.

Took a rest day Tuesday and then Wednesday jumped back into it with a lap of Falcon Trail on The Air Force Academy.  This 13 mile loop with over 1300' of gain in it is a trusty training ground for me that really keeps me honest.  I hadn't been on the trail for several weeks and managed to pull off a halfway decent 2 hour and 3 minute lap.  Legs were still quite sore and I kept the effort moderate to easy - yet came out with a surprisingly faster time than I thought I would do going into it.

Thursday took a 5 mile jaunt along Santa Fe Trail - out easy and back at 8 minute pace to try and loosen up the still a little sore and quite weary legs.

Friday I woke to a steady rain and not a huge desire to get out and run.  But I had planned on getting up early and doing a good hill run before work.  2 laps of Mt Herman on tap.  16 miles and over 4650' of gain.  The first lap was a wet slog in which I was drenched before even a 1/2 mile into it.  I learnt the jacket I was wearing was not waterproof in any way, shape or form - so it was a nuisance.  Shed it after a lap - it had stopped raining by then - and did the 2nd lap 4 minutes faster.  Overall time was 3 hours 42 minutes.  Legs were more sore later in the day and the day after than after the marathon effort earlier in the week.

So, Saturday was a much needed day of rest from running.

60 miles on the week - in just 4 runs.  3 of which were good quality.  This week and next I look to do more miles in an attempt to try and recapture the fitness I had going into the 50K back in June.  I still feel like I am about 3 - 5 weeks behind where I was then and hence where I want to be.  But I am happy with the progress and hopefully if I make it through the next couple of weeks I can taper right in time to get a decent effort in for the Stump Jump 50K.