Last Week Was A Good Week

I never post anything regarding my weekly training as I feel I rarely do anything noteworthy. However the past week (April 10th thru the 16th) gave me a few reasons to be happy as we roll into the beautiful days of spring here in Colorado.

Wednesday the 13th marked my 4th visit and 4th x-ray over the past two months at the Hand Surgery Associates within Porter Medical Plaza. Visit number 2 ended with possibilities of a pin or two being inserted into my fractured left radial bone. Visit number 4 went much better. Dr. Sachar was extremely happy with the latest evaluation. The fracture was now healed and outside of some lingering swelling that'll be around for another month plus, I was good to go. No more visits needed, no more x-rays needed. It's been two months since my fracture occurred and I'm so happy to close the book on this story.

Training for the week also went just as well. Right now, having no weekly game plan is the best plan I can have. Outside of my long run on Saturday, I try to be as flexible as possible. If I can run, then great. If I can't, then there's a damn good reason why I can't get after it. This past week offered up 7 straight days of running. The stats are:

Miles - 67+
Time - 9 Hours 45 Minutes
Vert - 5,200 Feet

All this highlighted by Saturdays long run on Mt. Falcon. 23 miles in 3 hours 58 minutes. One of my favorite views below showing off peaks such as Bergen, Squaw and of course Evans.



Highlight of the run came after the initial climb and knocking out those 2 one mile long out/back spur trails near the shelter. I bumped into an old friend Julie and her two Aussie dogs. I've known Julie for 5 years now and we spent the next hour plus running together and catching up. Running can be so easy when done among friends.

I knocked out Mt. Falcon v1 in a very comfortable 2 1/2 hours. v1 is all physical. Heading up the east face a second time is all mental. First climb came in around 33/34 minutes. Climb two around 37 minutes. I proceeded on to the western lot of the park and returned pretty much the same way I came up with a slight change thru the upper valley. Felt good the whole day and for a second wondered if I was capable of knocking out a Mt. Falcon v2. And if so how long would it take. Regardless that would be a brutal second loop.

On the way home I stopped off at Morgan Liquors near home. To my delight I saw this in a can which further proved spring is finally here.



Ska's Mexican Logger which was likely canned within the past few weeks. Now I'm an IPA fan till the day I die, but the Mexi Log is damn tasty. Especially after 23 miles on them Mt. Falcon trails.

Hardrock Lottery likes SW Colorado

A long over due post that I'm excited to share.

Back on Feb 5th, the lottery for entry into Hardrock was held. While it sounds like many of those living along the front range were denied entry, a few living around the SW corner of the state had a much better outcome. Without getting specific, I'm noticing a few first timers from that area get in this year.

One of those first timers is Scott who I helped out in Leadville last year. I couldn't be more excited for him and look forward to helping him in any way possible come July 8th.

I've stated this before and still feel strongly about it. I do not have an overwhelming desire to run a 100 mile race right now. A race of this distance requries a huge commitment and due to family and work obligations, that type of commitment is something I just don't have right at this moment. Don't get me wrong though, this distance is something I'll likely attempt more then a few times in my life, and mainly because of my desire to run Hardrock.

Now the goal of running 100 miles will hopefully occur in 2012 and assuming all goes well, my earliest entry into Hardrock would be 2013. So it's in my best interest to get started sooner then later while the body and mind are healthy.

I first heard of Hardrock and Imogene Pass Run about 9 years ago during a trip to Ouray. Just chatting with some older gent who was finishing a run in town. I didn't know trail running and/or races existed. Hell, I honestly didn't know squat about running. What I did know is I loved the San Juans the second I laid eyes on them.

Since that day in Ouray, I've run Imogene 5 times. I've raced the San Juan Solstice and the Kendall Mountain Run. I've ran just less then half the course of Hardrock over numerous runs and countless other miles around the San Juans. The San Juans are were my love for the mountains begain and running every race held in the area has always been my goal.

Just a few pics of what Hardrock is all about. Enjoy.

(Nothing Hardrock related but just how one rolls in SW Colorado)

March 2011 Summary

Runs - 26
Work Outs - 0
Injured - 0

The Bad:

Tired. I now have a new definition of what tired means. I thought I knew what I was getting into with raising a new born with regards to a lack of sleep but never did I think it would hit me this hard. For the record, our little one couldn't be any more of an angel. She eats great, sleeps great and is a chill baby. It's just the lack of consistent sleep that just wears you down over a 6 week period. Two to three hours here and there and before you know it's time to get up and go to work. Coffee has become a close friend of mine over the past month.

Cherry Creek State Park. I've made it a weekly goal to run at least once a week during my lunch break. Cherry Creek St. Park is in our backyard and I've come to dislike this place so much over the past month. The wind is always blowing hard and mix in the dusty aspect of the park and I feel like I'm driving thru an Indian Reservation in Oklahoma. I am holding out hope that spring brings on some nice color and a little wildlife to the area. And dusty prairie dogs don't count.

The Good:

Consistent Miles. As tough as it was at times, I've stayed damn consistent all month without my running getting in the way of family or work. I had a long trail run every weekend (capped at 3 hours regardless of how I was feeling) followed by a 10 to 14 miler the next day on the streets around the hood. During the middle of the week I mixed in some good speed work, tempo and plenty of conservatively paced miles. What I'm most proud of is I felt like I could have gone longer on a majority of my runs. A great sign for me as I feel extremely confident in my base and feel that I can step it up once summer comes around.

Being a dad. As of month end, it's been 6 wonderful weeks of seeing the little one grow in front of my own eyes. Loving every second!

Looking Forward:

April will be an interesting month. A few weeks at work will be straight hell as we wrap up our Budget for the next fiscal year. The wife gets back to work starting the last few weeks of the month. The in-laws move in for that time frame to help out with baby. Yeah things will be interesting come April. Just hoping I can maintain some decent running as the Collegiate Peaks 25 Miler is just around the corner.

My random thoughts on shoes:



For most of my running life, I've relied on two shoes to carry me around the streets and trails. The Mizuno Percision's and Elixer's. I've posted on this way long ago so won't rehash my love for either shoe.

Feeling that I needed something more specialized as my miles increased in the high country, I started running in La Sportiva Crosslites last year. I really do like the shoe but wanted to mix it up a bit so I've purchased a pair of the Saucony Peregrine's. The lightweight, minimal drop and lower to the ground heights really grabbed my attention. Have yet to run in these so can't comment on them.

What always grabs my attention with trail running shoes is their tread. The tread on most trail shoes just seems excessive to me and both shoes I mentioned are no exception. I run in the 101's a fair amount and the lack of tread on that shoe has never been an issue to me. Heck, the Elixer's have even less tread and they never seem to hinder me. Maybe it's just me but a glove like fit is so much more important to me then heavy duty traction nobs. Or is it knobs?

The T7's were a shoe I decided to try after Mizuno made some slight changes to the Percisions that I didn't care for. The T6's, now T7's, are really fun shoes to run in and outside of weight offer up the same heel and forefoot height compared to the Percisions. I honestly don't notice much difference between the T7s and Percisions.

The big difference I do notice is I beat these shoes up quickly. Must be my fat frame (6'3" 185lbs) or the rugged terrain I run on (Wash Park dirt path). Either way the life span of these shoes ain't long and I have a feeling this is the last times I invest in these shoes. I likely would have gone for something different had the T7's not offered up a new fun look. In a few months I'm sure I'll go back to my trusted Mizuno's or if I really enjoy the ride of the Peregrine's, I'll take the Kinvara for a few laps around the park.

Oh and if you were wondering, I do pretty much all my shopping at the runningwarehouse. Zero issues with them over 2 plus years of shopping.