Week Ending 3/25

Here's how the week went:

Monday--easy
AM: 40 minutes on the indoor bike trainer at easy pace. This was about proactive recovery from a nearly 37-mile weekend.

Tuesday--moderate
AM: 9.6 miles in 1:13 on the trails near my house. 700'. I felt very good for a Tuesday. My legs were fresh and responsive. Cross-training yesterday paid dividends in how I felt today.

Wednesday--tempo run
AM: 10.65 miles in 1:14. Another very strong tempo run. 600'. Everything clicked, even as it was quite cold and dark. Every single tempo split was an improvement over last week: 1) 8:25 (warm up), 2) 6:30, 3) 6:09, 4) 6:08, 5) 6:23, 6) 5:53, 7) 6:28, 8) 7:58 (begin cooldown), 9) 7:31, 10) 7:52, 10.65) 5:13. I really like my splits for miles 3, 4, and 6. Mile 5 would have been low 6's had it not been on an incline.
 
Thursday--easy
AM: 5.1 miles in just shy of 41 minutes on the treadmill. I had an early morning meeting so this was all I could muster. Ran at super easy pace.
 
Friday--moderate
AM: 9.35 miles in 1:11 on the Tomahawk loop. 600'. Very tired from another crappy night of sleep. TGIF.

PM: 5.65 miles in just shy of 44 minutes during lunch at work. 200'. Ran the single track along the Cherry Creek Trail and then followed up with 5 minutes of barefoot running in the field in front of my office building. At nearly 80 degrees, it was quite hot! This was my first lunchtime run in about 2.5 years and the first barefoot run in over 3 years. Running barefoot in the grass was a lot of fun.

Saturday--longish
AM: 11.6 miles in 1:30 on the trails and dirt shoulders near my house. 800'. I felt a little flat, probably from not sleeping well this week. Finished up with 6 minutes of barefoot running on a nearby soccer field. I really love barefoot running. Not only is it fun, but it also strengthens the feet, improves your form and basically works muscles you wouldn't normally work while wearing shoes.

Sunday--long
AM: 22.45 miles in 3:40 in Waterton Canyon and on section 1 of the Colorado Trail. 3,005'. The group included George Zack, Brownie, Sean O'Day, Jim Petterson, Wes Thurman, Ryan Kirchner and about 20 other folks. Due to time constraints, I turned around after about 1:50 and 11.2 miles and ran back with Wes. Photos here.

Weekly totals:

• 74.5 miles run
• ~6000' of climbing
• 11 miles on the cycle
• Total training 10:55
• 7 total runs
• 11 minutes of barefoot running
• Averaged 8:16/mile
• Push-ups and core work

Year to date mileage:

• 729.7 miles run
• 107 miles biked
• 2.6 miles walked

All in all, this was another solid week of training, with two really great workouts--Wednesday's tempo run and Sunday's long run on the Colorado Trail. This week I'm going to play it by feel. I'd like to once again crest the 10-hour, 70-mile mark but may ease back a bit and recover. One thing I DO want to accomplish is getting to the track on Friday morning if there's enough sunlight to work with and if the weather cooperates. I really want to once again structure my weeks around one tempo run, one track workout, a long run, and a medium-long run, with everything else being easy.

Speaking of weather, it has been an unusually mild March here on the Front Range. We've had basically no snow all month, which is rare. Combine the super dry conditions with high winds and it's no surprise we're on alert for wildfires and brush fires. As much as I've enjoyed the mild conditions, we really need some precipitation. So you won't hear me complaining if it snows. What I'd most like are a few rainy days. I miss the rain.

On Saturday, April 7, I'll be venturing down to Manitou Springs to participate in a portion of the Inclinathon, a Fat Ass-style event that will showcase a train wreck in the making. I won't be doing 13 laps on the Incline (for a total of ~27 miles and 26,000 feet of vertical), as others may be, but I'll be going for 3-4 laps on the Incline and Barr Trail. Four laps would come to about 17 miles and 8,000 feet of serious, lung-burning vertical. That's a walk in the park compared to 13 laps up and back down the Incline for the most brutal marathon imaginable. I can't wait!