Monday, June 13, 2011

Training week 6/6-6/12

Another solid week in the books:

Monday, 6/6 - EASY
AM: 5 miles easy. Had just gotten home from Atlanta and grabbed these miles on the treadmill while Noah napped.

Tuesday, 6/7 - MOUNTAINS
AM: 15 miles on Mount Herman Road in Monument, Colorado. This was kind of a frustrating run because I couldn't find the trailhead to the summit (~9,300 feet). And so I just ran the road and made the best of the situation. Fortunately, I got in 2,100 feet of vertical and 2,100 feet of smooth descent. I ran the downs pretty hard. High point was 8,800 feet.

Wednesday, 6/8 - EASY
AM: 9.75 miles easy in the Parker hills on mostly dirt roads
PM: 3.25 miles easy on the treadmill
Total miles: 13.0

Thursday, 6/9 - TEMPO RUN
AM: 5 miles at tempo pace, 10.31 miles total, in the Parker hills. After a 1-mile warm-up, I kicked it into high gear. Splits for my tempo miles were 6:17, 6:17, 6:19, 6:22, and 6:28. The next 3.3 miles were at easy/cooldown pace. That last tempo split (6:28) sticks out in a not-so-good way. By then my legs were tired and so I cut it short. My goal was 6 miles at tempo pace.
PM: 3.25 miles easy
Total miles: 13.56

Friday, 6/10 - MOUNTAINS
AM: 7 miles easy in the Parker hills
PM: 7.2 miles in Roxborough State Park. I didn't have tons of time so what I did was run up to Carpenter's Peak (elevation 7,200 feet) and then back down. Total vertical gain was just 1,220 feet, but it was nice to get on the trails and get in some moderate climb and trail work. Even at 7,200 feet, the views from Carpenter Peak are impressive.
Total miles: 14.2

Saturday, 6/11 - MEDIUM LONG RUN
AM: 12 miles easy in the Parker hills. A stiff head wind from the south/southwest made for a crappy experience. I was exhausted when I returned home, having battled the gusts in the last 4 miles.
PM: 4.1 miles on the treadmill
Total miles: 16.1

Sunday, 6/12 - MOUNTAINS
AM: 16.5 miles/3+ hours on the Barr Trail going up Pikes Peak. Due to limited time, I turned around at 11,100 feet. Felt pretty good, but not great, on the long climb and was working fairly hard on the W's. The elevation beyond Barr Camp was a bit of a challenge. 4,775 feet of vertical and the same amount of descent. Just short of 10,000 feet of combined elevation change in a single run can never be a bad thing.

FYI, I do most of my PM running on the 'mill because of family circumstances. Noah loves to be in the basement with me while I'm running on the 'mill--good bonding time. The important thing is that, in a given week this time of year, 80% of my running is outside, where it counts the most.

Weekly totals:
  • Total miles for the week: 93.39
  • Total time running: 13:45
  • 10 total runs (average run was 9.3 miles--right on target)
  • 10,000 feet of vertical, 10,000 feet of descent
  • Yoga stretches and core strengthening
Total miles for the year: 1,580.39

My goal this week is to cut back a bit, nailing about 70-75 miles. I think it's time for some recovery and, also, this Saturday is the Mount Evans Ascent, a classic road race up a huge mountain. This is going to be a difficult race as it's all between 10,600-14,265 feet--likely with high winds mixed in. We'll see what happens. My plan after finishing is to take the shuttle back down to Echo Lake and then run the trails for a few miles. Originally I was planning to run back down to my car. But having done a few road ultras in my day, including 131 miles on the road in one clip, I think running ~29 miles on pavement this Saturday, with some important races in Leadville coming up, is a bit much.

Lucho posted some great photos of Evans here.

***

After Mount Evans, the schedule is the Leadville Trail Marathon on July 2 and then the Leadville Trail 100-Mile on August 20. The Leadville 100 is obviously a goal race of mine, but I really want to see some improvement at the Leadville Marathon. Last year I finished in 4:55 (28th place) and this year I'd like to see a finish under 4:30. It's a tough course, with the turnaround at the top of Mosquito Pass (13,185 feet), and right now Leadville is still buried in snow, so we'll see.

***

That brings me to the current course conditions in Leadville. Right now most of the course is still buried in snow. I've been told from the start to Mayqueen is mostly clear. Hagerman Pass up to Sugarloaf Pass is still buried. Powerline is clearing fast. I'm unaware of what the trail from Powerline down to Twin Lakes is like--probably snowy. And of course Hope Pass is still far from runnable unless you want to post-hole. So these conditions, for which we can thank near-record snowfall and an epic winter in the Rockies, are certainly going to delay on-course training. My time is such that I'm not going to spend a combined 4.5 hours in the car if it means stomping through feet of snow in Leadville. So I'm going to ride it out a little longer and hope these warm temps get the course clear ASAP! I do think it's going to be probably 4-6 weeks before Hope Pass is clear, which means my training there will be taking place in late July through early August. Not ideal, but also not the end of the world.

Get 'er done!

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