November 4th- November 10th

 "You can't make a good decision unless you have good information and can separate facts from opinion and speculation." - Colin Powell

Monday:   

9 AM:  Hour in the garage gym.

Easy 5K on the rower in 21mins as a warmup

Then a combo of leg movements today with the focus on box and goblet squats.  Hit all the major muscles in the legs and lower back.  Followed this up with 25mins in the sauna.  Back to heat training 3-4 times a week.

Another surprise in the mail...

Howie's photos from Javelina last week finally got put up online.  Found 4 of them, grab 2 of them that I liked the most.  It was a beautiful run even if it was in the middle of Hell during the day.

Tuesday:  

7 AM:  5.5 miles w/ 450ft of vert averaging 7:45pace.  Easy cruise from the Coalton Trailhead straight west up the hill to the gate and back. Super chill effort this morning and felt really good. Think we are good to go. Bunch of shorter runs this week getting back to normal training next week.

2 PM:  1 hour in the garage gym

Warmup: 500 Skierg and mobility

Bench Press
10 @ 135lbs
10 @ 155lbs
4 @ 175lbs
1 @ 185lbs
1 @ 190lbs
3 @ 175lbs
7 @ 155lbs
8 @ 135lbs

Dumbell Flys: 4x10 @ 25lbs

Dumbell Skull Crushers: 4x10 @ 25lbs

2 sets
10/10 ATG Split Squats
10 DB Seated Good Mornings @ 35lbs

3 sets
50m Suitcase Farmers Carry @ 53lbs
20 Russian Twist

Planks 2x1min 

 Row 7x400m w/ 1 min recoveries for 2800m total

Wednesday:

7 AM:  50mins in the garage gym.

Rowing 3576 meters

15 mins with the following breakdown every min:
50sec moderate
10sec hard

Warmup: the row workout and mobility

5 Rounds
5 pullups
10 pushups

Barbell bent over rows
4x10 @ 95lbs

Dumbell pullovers
4x10 @ 40lbs

EZ-Bar bicep curls
4x10 @ 42lbs

2 sets
10/10 ATG Split Squats
10 DB Seated Good Mornings @ 35lbs

4 sets
15 GHD Situps to parallel
15 GHD Hip Extensions

3 PM:  5.1 miles averaging 8min pace.  Easy run with Venus in the open space by the house. Super chill due to ice and snow. She had a blast, been a bit since she has run with me. Cool weather means she had no issues.  

-- Directly into the hot tub after the run to keep up some sort of heat training.

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Nope, will try to get back on this next week.  Actually a little scared to know, been eating like an asshole.

7 AM:  Rowing about 20mins for 3500m

4 Rounds Tabata rowed as:

1- 20 SPM
2- 24 SPM
3- 28 SPM
4- 30 SPM

7:30 AM: 35 mins lifting in the garage.

Warmup:
3 Rounds
10 airsquats
10 walking lunges
4 square drill
stretch

3 Rounds
5x Front Squats (115,120,125)
stretch

3 rounds
10 weighted situps - 25lbs
10x kneeling slashers - 25lbs
30s Plank
10x back extensions

3 sets of calf raises w/ 25lbs

2 Rounds
10/10 ATG Split Squats
10 Seated Good Mornings - 35lbs

11 AM:  5.2 miles averaging 7:40pace.  Easy cruise around the hood on all roads. Did not feel like messing with ankle plus deep snow today so stuck the the bike lanes around the hood. Snow was not sticking on the roads.

-- Took off for the weekend around 2pm.  Heading to Fruita so Paula can run a 60k with her friends celebrating Rey turning 60.  Should be a fun weekend!

Friday:

10 AM:  5.1 miles averaging 7:40pace.  Easy out and back from the Airbnb in Fruita on the farmland roads outside of town. Super chill and flat but pretty in its own way. Legs are trashed today and right foot hurts in the middle of the foot. Foot has been bothering me for a few days so might skip tomorrows race.

Saturday: 

9 AM:  10.3 miles w/ 1200ft of vert averaging 7:02 pace.  Kessel Run 10 Miler- 1st overall.

Well was not planning on that. Signed up for something to do while Paula was out doing her 40 miler with the plan to make it a tempo run. No one jumped on the starting line with me and lead it from start to the finish. 2nd place was almost 10 mins behind me by the finish. Did not go all out but did go a little harder than I should have.  Did not want to give up 1st once I was there and could not tell how far behind second place was.  Great course and I would do this course again in a heart beat.

Sunday:  

 Spent half the day driving home from Fruita and we got lucky with good roads.  I-70 has been getting shut down on and off all weekend due to the amount of snow and wrecks.  By the time we got home I did not feel like doing anything and my foot was bothering me so took the day off.

Total Weekly Numbers

Still a down week trying to recover and of course racing Saturday did not help that.  Overall feeling pretty good with the exception of a spot in the middle of my foot.  Started last Wednesday, basically why I took Sunday off.  I don't need a stress fracture right now so backing off.  Off to FL for work on Monday and Tuesday.  Sucks..  No personal time on this trip, fly there most of the day Monday, meetings all day Tuesday and fly home Tuesday night.  

Election Day Thoughts

 "Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.: - Jerry Garcia

It’s a big week in the United States.

I know it’s very easy to take this for granted, but there are people around the world who would give up everything to have the opportunity to choose the direction of their country.

Use your power.

My challenge for you. I want you to remember that even though people might disagree with you, they are not your enemy.

You might disagree with someone about the debt, taxes, immigration — you name it.

But that does not mean you have to give up your humanity and be nasty to them.

It doesn’t mean they’re a communist or a Nazi.

It just means you have a different vision of policy.

I know that some of the people at the top have given all of us a bad example of how to treat our fellow men and women, but this week, my challenge to you is to stay out of the mud.

There will be enough nastiness no matter what happens.

I want you to rise above it. You can do it. We can do it.

If you need inspiration, just look at the letter President George H.W. Bush, wrote to President Clinton after he lost the 1992 election to him:

That grace has always inspired me, and I hope this week, it inspires you to show the same grace to the people you don’t agree with politically.

We can choose to be better.

We all have that power, no matter what some of our role models and the owners of social media sites and the media want us to think.  Use your power to what makes you happy without putting down others, that is what makes this country great.  Fuck social media, most of it is fake anyways.

October 28th- November 3rd

 "When I was little, my mother taught me how to use a fork and knife.  The trouble is that mother forgot to teach me how to stop using them!" - Hattie McDaniel

Been eating like an asshole this week as I recover... that needs to change soon.

Monday:   

Nothing today but eating any and all food that I desire.  Spent all day driving home from Phoenix. Had to stop just outside of Moab for a 1.5 hour nap. Love the van for this reason.  Left at about 6am and got home just after 8pm.  Actually not bad at all with the nap break.

Tuesday:  

1 PM:  Walked 2.6 miles in 45 mins w/ Venus.  Just an easy walk around the hood to get some movement it.  The normal dog walk loop I have been doing the past few weeks.  Slowly getting back to it some this week.  Today was mostly about trying to catchup at work (failed) and get a little bit of movement in.

Wednesday:

10:30 AM:  40 mins in the garage gym.

Warmup: Rowing and mobility

4 RFT:
4 rounds of:
Row, 500 m
50 Dumbbell Box Step-ups, 20 in

3x10 single leg calf raises

3x10 ab roll outs

4 PM:  Walk 3.4 miles w/ 1000ft of vert in 46mins.  Uphill treadmill walk at the gym. Figured this was less impact and would keep the HR up a little higher than flat walking today. Two more days of walks or other crosstraining before returning to jogging on Saturday.

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Nope

9 AM:  40mins lifting in the garage.

Warmup: Rowing and mobility

Bunch of sets of Bench, Incline Flys, Shoulder Press, Shoulder-side Flys, Hammer Curls, Skull crushers, and planks. Not to heavy and not to light, just to work the body a little bit.

3:30 PM:  Biked 11.3miles w/ 650ft of vert in 47mins.  Easy ride on the gravel bike around the hood. They finally opened Simms by Between my hood and HWY128 after a year so had to check it out. Completely different and spits you out at a totally different spot on HWY128. The hill is also more gradual verses straight up like it used to be. I like it because it is so much safer for bikes now with wide lanes and bike lanes verses having to ride with traffic having them buzz you non-stop. Good to see our tax dollars do some good for a change.

Friday:

9 AM:  Start of Rowvember, going to do a bunch of rowing workouts thru the month.  They are putting up free workouts every day on the Darkhorse App but most likely won't get them all done.  https://darkhorserowing.com/rowvember-2024

Day 1

Warmup: Rowing just over 1000 and mobility

Sets
500 in 1:46
rest 2 mins
1000 in 3:43
rest 3 mins
500 in 1:44

--- Fingers crossed, we will find out December 7th.

2:30 PM:  Biked 11.3 miles w/ 600ft of vert in 47mins.  Easy ride from the house sticking mostly to the dirt verses a combo of both dirt and concrete. Surprised on how my body seems to be bouncing back from the 100 last Saturday. Plan on trying to run tomorrow for about 30mins to see where I really stand.

-- This evening Paula and I grabbed an early dinner and heading down to BPRUNCO in Lakewood to watch Luke's film "High Frequency" which is about his run this year at Hardrock.  Good times and got to brown nose with Dale the race director.

Saturday: 

8 AM:  5.1 miles w/ 1350ft of vert averaging 11min pace.  Easy lap of Mt Sanitas going up the ridge and down the backside. Funny thing is according to Strava this is the 3rd fastest time I have done this loop which is weird, I was not pushing at all. Plan was to bike with the boys tomorrow while they run Mini Mags but based on how good I feel today I am going to run tomorrow instead and start getting back to it.

2 PM: 35 mins in the garage gym.

Warmup: Airbike and mobility

Coffland :
Pull-up Bar Hang, 6 mins
Every time you break complete:
60 Air Bike Calories
30 Push-ups

-- ended up being 240 calories on the airbike and 120 pushups.  Followed up with 20mins in the hot tub.

Sunday:  

8 AM:  10.5 miles w/ 1100ft of vert averaging 8:20pace.  Run with the boys on Mini Mags in Bailey again. This time we started on the other end of if by the VFW so that we would end there for all you can eat breakfast for $12 that they do on the 1st Sunday of every month. Think this is going to become a regular thing now.  If interested in joining reach out for details.

Rest of the day was regretting how much I ate at the VFW, watching football, and working on mobility.

Total Weekly Numbers

Not a bad recovery week.  By Sunday I felt pretty good after the longer run.  Last mile I could feel it but otherwise all systems go.  Been eating like an asshole all week so it is now time to reel that back in.  Still have not had a drink yet, might break that on my birthday though.  We will see.  Time to get back to the grind and rebuilding.  19 weeks to Blackbeard 100 but might throw in some other things before then.

October Recap

 

"Don't take life too seriously.  You'll never get out alive." - Elbert Hubbard

Solid month with a solid race thrown in...  Of course dropped the bike a lot this month so not to risk a crash before Javelina but that will be coming back over the next month or at least when it is not to cold outside.  Pondering what is next for leading up to next year so more to come on that and of course I am open to all suggestions. Will be putting in for the Western States and Hardrock lotteries so things will be influenced a lot based on that outcome.

October 21st - October 27th

 "What strikes me is that there's a very fine line between success and failure.  Just one ingredient can make the difference." - Andrew Lloyd Webber

"I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." - Christopher Reeve

Seemed like a two quote week... my one ingredient at the race this week was Don and Nancy, I would have dropped on lap 2 if it was not for them.  Thank you guys... love you.

Monday:   

9 AM:  6 miles averaging 8:10pace.  Easy spin from the house over to the rec center to drop off my ballot the looped back to the house. Legs are junk today but got it done. Hopefully they come around this week.  

--Followed this up with 35mins in the sauna (last one before I leave tomorrow) and 15mins of stretching.

-- Paula and I meet Don and Amy at Red Rocks for Hardy! this evening.. So much fun!!

Tuesday:  

Left home a little after 8am this morning to start heading to Phoenix with no plan on how far I was going to go.  I can not check into the house I rented until Wednesday at 4pm so I have time.  Drove most of the day making it Flagstaff just after dinner and found a place to sleep just outside of town.  That was a longgggggg drive, about 11 hours with the stops.

Wednesday:

11 AM:  5.4 miles w/ 1000ft of vert averaging 9:30pace.  Easy miles at the base of Mt Eden in Flagstaff before finishing the drive down to Phoenix for Javelina. Basically on the Cocodona course.  HR seemed really high today for the effort level, I am guessing from driving all day yesterday. I am pretty wiped from it today even though I slept well.

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Not on race week and I am at the rental house in Phoenix.

Total day off today with only a bunch of stretching this evening to try and loosen up the hip.  It has really been bothering me since yesterday afternoon.  Guess it is from the 11 hours of straight driving that I did on Tuesday combined with a hillier run I did yesterday at lunch.  Hopefully it will not be an issue on Saturday.

We did get the crew site setup so that is done for Don and Nancy for Saturday then hit up a brewery meeting up with Neal and dinner.  The weather is going to be challenging on Saturday with a forecast of 98 degrees which will be a record high for the race.  Hopefully all that heat training I have been doing helps.

Friday:

10 AM:  4.5 miles averaging 9:40 pace.  Hoka shakeout jog at the race site with Don and about 400 other people. Super chill the first half until we were able to break away on the way back to jog at a normal pace.

--  Spent the rest of the afternoon playing cards at the house with Don and Nancy.  We then took the driverless taxi out to dinner... that was WILD...   Better driver than 99% of the people on the roads.

Saturday: 

6 AM:  Javelina 100 - 99.4 miles with 6500ft of vert averaging 12:37pace for 20:53 finish. What a race, it was going good until it wasn't then finished strong once the sun went down. This race is basically 5 loops with the first loop being about 22 miles and the last 4 just over 19 miles. Ran the first loop in under 3 hours and was cruising along until about mile 31 where the wheels fell off due to the record heat of 100+ degrees. I was expecting it to be hot but damn this was a different level with no clouds in the sky and no shade what so ever on the course. Lots of walking to finish out loop 2 in 5ish hours (about 11 miles of walking), then a walk/jog for loop 3 finishing the loop right when I needed a headlamp and it was starting to cooldown. I had to push hard the last 4 miles of loop 3 to beat the darkness for I did not have a headlamp on me. Loop 4 and 5 were just over 4 hours each evenly paced with Don which was perfect. If you take out my aid station stops my running time was around 17.5 hours but I needed those stops to survive the record heat. This just tells me that my A goal of sub 20 is possible for me. Did hit my B goal of sub 24 so I am mostly happy but still pondering what if..... I could not have done this run in this heat without Don and Nancy there helping me, thank you so much.  I love you guys... And of course the support from Paula and talking me off the ledge at mile 40 when I almost dropped due to heat exhaustion, yes I had to lay down in the med tent for a bit to bring my temp back down.  I love you babe....  Starting to think I am getting to old for this shit...

Sunday:  

--  Finished in the early morning, just back to the house for about 3 hours of sleep before returning to tear down the crew tent.  Spent the rest of the day eating, watching the NFL and playing cards at the house.  Nothing to exciting.  I had plans to finally have a drink after being dry for about 8 weeks but decided against it.  Maybe next week sometime.   Early bedtime of course, long drive home tomorrow.  Not sure if I will do it in one day or stretch it out over 2 days.

Total Weekly Numbers

Got it done, not much else to say that I have not said above.  Now a week or two of recovery then back to it.  Not sure what my focus will be but thinking of working on 5K and 10K speed some until January when I will start getting ready for the road 100 I have scheduled in March in North Carolina.  I will figure all that out over the next few weeks.

October 14th- October 20th

"Life is like riding a bicycle.  To keep your balance you must keep moving." - Albert Einstein

Monday:   

-- Finished book number 23 of the year last night.  Only one more to go to hit my goal for the year.  Targeted: Beirut  . Super interesting for it talks basically how we got pulled into the Middle East back in the 1980s and have not left since.

9 AM:  Airdyne in the garage for 1000 calories and/or 23 miles which took 1:17.  Done in a heat suit, 5 layers on top, all wool except the down jacket on top, and 2 layers down low. Will do this again on Thursday or Friday with more layers... that sucked.

1 PM: Walk 3 miles in 48mins.  Dog walk around the hood with Venus. 

3 PM: 40 mins lifting in the garage gym.

Warmup: Rowing and Mobility

Lifting the garage. All upper body. Bench, Shoulder Press, Back movement, Biceps, Triceps, and one Core movement. Little heavier today than normal. Will do legs Wed after they recover some from Saturday, quads are still sore.

-- followed this with 20mins in the hot tub... going all in this week with heat training.

Tuesday:  

9:30 AM:  6.3 miles averaging 7:30pace.  Lap of the Costco loop in Superior. Out on the dirt roads behind Costco and back on the Dirty Bizmark trails. Little quicker than I was expecting today but I'll take it.

1 PM:  Walked 2.6 miles in 43mins.  Easy dog walk around the hood. Same route as the past few days.  

-- Right into the sauna for 30mins right after the walk.  Will stretch and do the hot tub later this evening before bed.

Wednesday:

6:45 AM:  7.2 miles w/ 800ft of vert averaging 7:50pace.  Easy 2 loops of Springbrook from Dowdy Draw Trailhead with 6 or so pickups in the middle of the run. Great morning out there! Heart rate band was not working correctly so may have pushed a little to hard in the middle but oh well.

1 PM: Walked 2.6 miles in 41mins.  Dog walk around the hood, same loop as we have done the past 6 days.  30mins in the sauna directly afterwards.  

Thursday:  

  -NOTE:  Weight check in:  Was expecting to be back over 170 due to my snacking before bed the last week but instead I am down almost 2 more pounds and body fat dropped too.  So damn weird, I have been tracking my food and have been over my daily calories by hundreds of calories everyday but still dropping weight.  Guessing it is due to the increase in my metabolism from all the heat training.  Just a guess.  Anyways logged in at 167.8 lbs and 7.4% body fat.

7 AM:  7.2 miles w/ 800ft of vert averaging 7:45 pace.  Exact same route as yesterday starting at Dowdy Draw over to two loops of Springbrook and back.  Little quicker today and heartrate strap was working.  Tried to keep in in the 130's for most of the run.  Felt super good after the first warmup mile.

Came across this guy this morning.... 

1 PM:  Walk 2.6 miles in 41mins.  Same dog loop around the hood we have been doing for over a week straight.  

3:30 PM:  Easy 40mins Easy lifting in the garage gym. All legs and core focused. Lighter than normal with the race being just over a week away.  

Followed this up with 30mins in the sauna.

Friday:

7 AM:  6.25 miles w/ 500ft of vert averaging 7:20pace.  Easy cruise from the Coalton Trailhead straight west up the hill to just past the gate and back. Pushed a little bit on the way back with mile 6 being at 5:55pace. Feeling good.

9 AM:  35mins lifting in the garage. 

Warmup: Rowing and mobility

4 RFT: 17 mins 40 secs
4 rounds of:
Row, 500 m
5 Strict Pull-ups
20 Deficit Push-ups
20 GHD Sit-ups

-then-

3 rounds
20sec calf raises
10sec hold up
20sec calf raises
10sec hold up
30sec recovery

9:45 AM: Airdyne in the garage for 10 miles or just over 30mins.  In a heat suit, 5 layers on top, all wool except the down jacket on top, and 3 layers down low. Went directly to stripping off all the layers into 30mins in the sauna... that was worse than earlier in the week.  If all of this does not get me heat acclimated then I am at a lost.

2 PM: Walked 2.6 miles in 42mins.  Took Venus out on our hood loop before the rain is supposed to come in.  Funny how 60 degrees I was freezing and had to wear a jacket.  Hope that means all the heat training is working.

Saturday: 

Morning:  3 miles of jogging between the warmup and cooldown with The Great Trailhead Foot Race 10 miler in the middle at Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood.   10 miles w/ 600ft of vert averaging 6:20pace.  Went out hard and hung on for 1st overall. Figured I would get caught but 2nd never got that close with them finishing over 3 mins behind me. Goal of this race was just to keep the HR around 150-155 as much as possible. Of course it climbed into the 160s on the uphills and went down into the 140s on the downhills but the average was just what I was shooting for at 154. Hopefully I did not burn any matches that I will need next weekend for Javelina.

The 3rd place kid in this photo is 14 years old and ran the 10 miler in 1:08... Mind blown!!!

3 PM: Walked 2.6 miles with Venus around the hood loop again followed with 30mins in the hot tub.  Gotta keep that heat training up.

Sunday:  

8 AM: 7.2 miles w/ 800ft of vert averaging 8:15pace.  Easy 2 loops of Springbrook from Dowdy Draw trailhead. Lots of runners out getting it done this morning. Used to being here in the middle of the work week when I usually only see 1 or 2 other people if any at all.  First 2 miles were a little rough from yesterday but did loosen up and got to rolling.

1 PM: Walked 2.6 miles around the hood loop with Venus.  Followed that with 30mins in the sauna.

Total Weekly Numbers

This was the last week solo, Paula gets home late Sunday night.  We will only see each other on Monday because I am leaving for AZ for a week on Tuesday which sucks but we are going to Red Rocks on Monday night to see Hardy, super pumped about that.  Been a solid taper/recovery week, probably did to much and raced to hard on Saturday but oh well.  Really wish I had another 4 weeks to get ready because I feel like I am finally hitting my groove and I am going to go destroy all this progress by running a 100 miles next Saturday which will put me in recovery mode for at least a few weeks causing me to start this process all over again.  The shit we do......