Pretty happy with the week, minus the unplanned days off (the increasingly common refrain...I know). Good quality efforts with some light intensity on Monday, more on Wednesday, a solid mountain run on Friday and a long, hard 17-mile tempo(ish) run on Sunday.
Strangely, I have been enjoying the road miles, something I have had a definite aversion to for years. I think I'm liking mostly because they aren't snow-covered, as the trails are up here. That said, I'm really enjoying the steady and quick turnover on the roads.
Anyway, this is what last week looked like:
Monday - Treadmill - 1:15; 10 miles - (all at 1 percent grade) one mile warm-up, then 8 miles at 6:58 pace followed by a 1-mile cool down. Felt great on this one. Started saying, I'll do 5 miles at the 6:58 pace. Got there, and said....OK, a 10K. Hit that. How about 8 miles. No problem. Could have gone for a lot more.
Tuesday - Off
Wednesday - Neighborhood loop; 1:09; 9.06 miles - Started from the house in the dark. Ran hilly route through a couple of the local subdivisions all while listening to Lucho on Endurance Planet describe smarter workouts than the one I was doing. Did make me up the intensity throughout the run, though. 811 feet o' elevation gain.
Thursday - Off
Friday - Green Mountain - Bear Canyon Loop. 1:47; 9.01 miles - Ran from Chautauqua to the top of Green Mountain via the backside. Great snow conditions on the Green trails - packed, dry snow, very little ice. Hit the summit rock in just over 41 minutes (disappointed with the time given the effort I put in). Headed back down to the four-way and cruised through a knee deep snow trough down into Bear Canyon. Only a couple handfuls of people had been down that trail since the last snow. Made steady progress down the canyon to the Mesa Trail and back to the car. Felt darn tuckered after this one. 2,849 feet o' elevation gain.
Saturday - Evergreen Lake - Hiwan Hills Loop - 1:09; 6.69 miles - Easy jog from the house down the Peoples' Path to Evergreen Lake and back via Hiwan Hills 'hood. 799 feet o' elevation gain. Still feeling the Friday mountain run.
Sunday - Golden and Clear Creek Bike Paths - 2:02; 17 miles - Long tempo(ish) run starting in downtown Golden. Wound my way around the Coors plant and picked up the Clear Creek concrete bike path. Ran it deep into Wheat Ridge and returned. Started around 4 p.m. and was quickly running in the dark. Decided to make this a pretty hard run. Average pace for the 17 miles was 7:09, including a one-mile w/u and c/d. Pretty happy w/ this one. 461 feet o' elevation gain.
Yesterday, Monday, I had plans to meet up with Steve F. in the a.m. for some tempo work on Upper Bear Creek Road. I was feeling a bit wrecked from Sunday night's long run, but still kept the man-date. I warned him at the onset I likely wouldn't do the tempo work. After the four mile jog up the road, I changed my mind. Decided to see if I could make the tired legs go. We ran three miles of tempo (6:18; 6:14; 6:08). Legs weren't happy, but I sure was after it was over. Felt good to push through the fatigue.
Took today off.
Must admit to being a little bummed I shelled out the bucks for the Leadville 100 now that the Run Rabbit Run 100 is being offered. I really enjoyed the Run Rabbit Run 50 in 2010. Fantastic terrain around Steamboat Springs. That said, I'm still very much looking forward to the Leadville experience.
Seriously thinking about Steamboat as well. But sure I can be serious about the training. You could do both.
ReplyDeleteI like man-dates...but only when they involve running! I've had similar thoughts on Pb/Steamboat. I'm excited to see how it turns out this year as I'm sure it will be difficult to keep it off the 2013 list.
ReplyDeleteGZ - I'm not assuming I can do either of them. A lot of work to do between now and August to survive just one!
ReplyDeleteWA - You could do both.
RRR was the most fun I've ever had on 2 feet.
ReplyDeleteI can see myself in RRR100 in 2013. As it sits now I'm having real trouble convincing the missus that 2 trips to Colorado in 2012 are warranted (Fruita 50 in April).