August 2013 Summary

Runs - 24
Running Days - 23
Weightlifting Days - 4
Avg Miles per Running Day - 11.7
Vertical Feet Ran - 40,000
Injured Days - 0

I'm a bit surprised by some of my Running numbers for the month considering I started my taper shortly after the 17th of the month.  Thought they'd be less since a huge bulk of my figures came during those first 17 days.

The running highlights were minimal but worth noting:

My only true Back-to-Back weekend -
Saturday the 3rd - 6 easy around Wash Park in the morning.  21 easy on the LT night run.
Sunday the 4th - 25+ on the Pikes Peak course which started with an up on the Incline (5:45 RT time).
I had roughly 2 1/2 hours of sleep between the night run in Leadville and the 7am start on Pikes.  Extremely sleep deprived but the body actually felt pretty strong the whole time.

Last Long Run -
Saturday the 17th - 37 pacing WA from Winfield to MQ.  I'll let Woody share his story regarding Leadville, but damn did he do fantastic.  His ability to turn around a somewhat slow section to a fast one was awesome.  Especially after that tough climb up powerline.  Once on top of Sugarloaf Pass, he crushed it to MQ.  

Enough has been said about 2013 Leadville that I won't rehash any stupid thoughts or ideas.  However, I will share this.  I met WA at Twin Lakes inbound early in the morning.  Hung out for roughly an hour.  The zoo that place turned into upon leaving was mind boggling.  As soon as I saw my wife (who was also in Leadville for the weekend), I quickly apologized to her for dragging her thru this mess last year.  Never will I do that again.      

Stuck to the Weightlifting for yet another month. As I fully expected, the past 2 months of slowly cutting back on the weights began to show by the end of August.  The trade off of running more.  Not nearly as strong as I was at the start of the July, but compared to last year at this time, still a hell of a lot stronger.  And in all honesty, the decrease in strength is thankfully minimal.  My guess is the slight decrease in strength could have been worse had I not been doing my little Push Up Challenge.  In the month of August I averaged 119 push ups per day.  YTD, I'm averaging roughly 102 per day.  First time all year I've exceeded 100 per day YTD.        

The Taper!  Mentally, I was ready for the taper to begin.  Nice knowing I didn't have to wake up at 3 or 4am to hit the trails.  Nice not having to commit to driving to the trails.  Nice not having to run damn near every day with a purpose.

However, I've had a rather aggressive cut back to my taper due to circumstances beyond my control.  1) Work getting beyond stupid and seeing me in the office for up to 70 hours a week for what will be a roughly 3+ week stretch (and perfectly timed with my taper period).  2) Getting sick.  Pink eye, a stomach bug and a  24+ hour flu.  All 3 of these have swept thru our house.  Sure wish I got pink eye instead of the flu.

I'm fine with being busy at work.  However I hate being sick!  The mental games that creep in the head from being sick and exhausted only 2 weeks out from race day are messed up.

While this bit ventures in September discussion, it's taken me 3 days to put this post together because of how busy I've been and how the flu literally knocked me on my ass on Monday.  How I'm in the office today (Tues) is beyond me.  I'm sure I'll pass out shortly.  

Looking Forward
10 days till RRR100.  No update on the Bunny Money Meter but I was guessing that thing would shoot up with all the folks who have signed up.  And wow with the Hares race.  120 total racers signed up for both races and no one will care about the 85 signed up for the Tortoise race.  Which I totally get and am fine with (hell I'm excited about all the pros!) but it does highlight one of the issues with splitting up a race like this.  

Regardless, I'm just hoping to hang on for the next week with work and recovery from being sick.  Getting into Steamboat a few days before the race with the goal of laying low and sleeping.  I'll be in good hands once the race starts. My wife and her brother will be crewing and I'll have Hillary and Woody pacing me to the end.

I've slowly been getting ready for this race since last November doing all I possibly could with being smart towards my training and racing.  Not much I can do now other then relax and enjoy the race as much as possible.  Always easier said then done of course.

Just as recently as a week ago, I was feeling really relaxed and eager for race day.  This little flu though has got me thinking way to much about how my body feels less then 2 weeks out.  Like I said though, hanging on for dear life for the next week to go by will be key for me.  After that, work will be off my mind and hopefully this flu out of my system.

Hell, I should consider myself lucky this flu didn't hit me next week!!!