April 2013 Summary

Runs - 21
Workouts (Weights) - 7
Running Days - 21
Avg Miles per Running Day - 11.3
Vert Feet Ran - 26,000

Outside of maybe 4 runs, all my Running days started at roughly 5:30am.  A necessity (and thankfully habit) that was needed if I was to get anything done this month.  Funny to look back at the month and find so many potential excuses to not run much.  Work could have been a great excuse.  To many 11 hour work days including some weekend work.  Weather may have been just as good as excuse.  Snow, temps in the teens, basically wintry conditions for a majority of Apr.

However that early time frame commitment to get my running in allowed me to stay the course with regards to my training.  And a solid training month it was.  The goal of 5 runs per week were met.  I'm sure some could argue more is needed per week, but I don't see the need to do so right now.  Each run is done for a reason.  There weren't any garbage miles (just a few tired runs including a tough 14 miler done hung over).  As the month continued on, I could feel myself getting stronger.  I'm comfortable in saying that I'm in better shape right now then I was entering the Moab race in Feb.

(Weekend long bachelor party in the mountains + Scotch = Hung Over Run)

The few extra days left in the week that I don't run are still focused in on the gym Lifting Weights.  This puts me at six straight months of having the weight room a main part of my training.  Limited in Dec/Jan by a messed up right shoulder, the past few months have seen huge improvements in weight being pushed.  I'm still sitting at a healthy weight in the low 180s.  Along with my boring healthy diet, my energy levels over the month have remained way high.

The one drawback of weight lifting is Doing To Much.  Which is exactly what happened during the middle of the month and left me rather flat for a few days.  After a strong 4 day stretch of running, I hit the weights hard.  So hard in fact that I was cashed the rest of day.  I'm sure the long work hours and poor diet during a short stretch didn't help, but it reminded me what my limits should be in the weight room.

My personal Push Up Challenge continues.  Averaging 135 per day for April and bringing down my YTD variance by 1,040 to (2,615).  I even did roughly 100 push ups over the month with my daughter either crawling on top of me or hammering away on me with a foam baseball bat.

Looking Forward

With two races in May, I'm still focused on the bigger picture.  My 50M in June.

Race #1 is the Collegiate Peaks 25M on May 4th.  A race that I'll be running as a part of my current training cycle.  The way I'll measure success at this race is based on how well I hydrated and fueled.  Honestly time is irrelevant but it'll be interesting to see how I tame my competitiveness once the races starts.  I'm hoping tired legs from a big week leading to the race curbs my desire to run fast or hard.  

Race #2 is Sun Mountain 50K on May 19th.  This race I'll take much more seriously.  I plan on sticking with my training cycle as race day approaches but know I'll be resting a bit as the trip to the State of Washington is part of a week long family vacation.  I'll get a few runs the week of the race but can't imagine ever going longer then 5M which would be done during the little ones nap.    

I don't get caught up on the Ultra Signup stats (actually think most of them are BS), but do find some of the numbers regarding the race itself interesting:

420 - Total Number of runners signed up for the 25K, 50K & 50M
1 - Number of runners from the State of Colorado

Lastly, I'm shooting for a strong month of running and getting into a groove of 6 runs per week.  Cutting back on the weight room but still keep it in the equation for a few more months.  I figure by July, I'll get away from the gym completely for a few months as I focus in on RRR100. It'll be an interesting transition that I'm hoping my body can handle.

March 2013 Summary

Runs - 21
Workouts (Weights) - 7
Running Days - 21
Average Miles per Running Day - 9.0
Vertical Feet Climbed - 14,000

Last June and July I was in some of the best Running shape of my life.  By August I was fried.  With that in my mind, I approached March very conservatively.  Which was honestly easy to do since family, work and life in general were taking up a lot more of my spare time then normal.

After ending February with 2 weeks of no running I started March by slowly getting back into a groove.  The goal was to start with 2 very easy weeks of running.  10 runs with maybe 60 miles logged in.  By the end of the 2 plus week stretch, my mind and body feeling great and eager to get into the swing of things.

The last few weeks saw a nice steady increase in runs, mileage and effort.  I was very happy with the progression made, very happy with how the body and mind responded.

In a nutshell, running wasn't a high propriety this month, yet I was able to crank out some decent numbers without really trying.  Puts me in a positive mind set going forward to what I can potentially during the spring and summer months.

For a second straight month, my Weight Lifting routine saw a huge improvement.  More weights being pushed, more body parts being focused in on with a much healthier right shoulder.  I couldn't be more excited on this front.

183 pounds is where I'm at right now.  Where I've been since I got back into a groove of training beginning mid November 2012.  At this weight I feel very lean, very strong and very confident that it's my ideal running weight.  Maintaining this as the summer approaches as my weightlifting decreases will be tough but I'll have to find a way to maintain.  I came in at roughly 175 for Leadville last year.  At the time I thought it was a perfect weight to be at.  Hell, it might be for a short period of time.  However, over the long summer of training, I believe it's just to light for me.  Puts me in a vulnerable spot of breaking down.  At a slightly higher rate, I know I'm doing some basic stuff correctly.  Eating healthy and weight lifting enough.

I continued on with my Push Up Challenge and averaged 123 push ups a day for March.  Bringing down my year-to-date variance by over 700 to (3,655).  Long way to go to bring that variance down to 0 but really enjoying the challenge so far.

I love when I'm able to bring the San Juan's back home with me! Beers of remaining San Juan breweries have been consumed shortly after getting home.

Looking Forward

I get very excited about running right now with the nice change in weather.  Mix in the fact that I feel great and I look to focus in on building up my base this month while slowly extending them long runs to make them the norm by mid May.

April will be low key as I have no races planned but that just gives me an excuse to tackle all the front range locations I love running on.  White Ranch, more Mt Falcon, Mt Sanitas, just to name a few.

Let's just hope work doesn't kill me to much.  My direct boss has just left for maternity for the next 14 weeks.  Putting me in a position of Sr. Director of Finance.  A title I've carried a few times in the past for short stints due to various reasons.  A responsibility I don't mind having, but at this point in my life, something I don't care to carry full time.  I simply value my time away from the office WAY to much.  Regardless of what "esteem" or salary a title like this carries.