The End of April

4/25 – 5/1

This week was my longest in terms of mileage year-to-date, 31 miles. Wrapping up the month this week, I knew I wanted to make this a high mileage week to end strong. It was a good week in that I had a PR during my speed work and I learned how to work around my current left knee issue (yes, it’s still an “issue”) in time for the Sunday long run.

Monday - 3.5 mi (31:10) Easy run on Twin Lakes loop

Tuesday - 3.5 mi (31:08) Easy run on Twin Lakes loop

Thursday - 4 mi speed work (3 x 800 – 3:46, 3:19, 2:53, 31:44 tot mins) - The 2:53 would be a PR split for me. I had plenty left in the tank for a strong split, so I pushed it more than usual. It was definitely an anaerobic effort, but numbers are numbers.

Saturday - 7 mi (56 mins) easy run on Bobolink Trail to Marshall Mesa – Played around with different strides. Still trying to increase speed through higher turn over rather than simply extending my stride. Bobolink was beautiful as everything is blooming and South Boulder creek was flowing decently. Plus, I got to run with the cows, which is always a bonus!

Getting into the car, my left knee (at this point, I’ve determined it’s a tight IT band) totally gave out to the point where I couldn’t depress the clutch pedal and I could hardly make it up the stairs to my place. This was the worst flare up I’ve had since the initial manifestation three weeks prior. I got home and spent some good time stretching it out with the hopes it’d be good to go for the following day’s long run on the Mesa.

Sunday 5/1: 13 mi long run (2:32) Mesa Loop – After running this trail for the third straight week, it’s becoming a little more familiar, though it’s still an effort-intensive run.

Despite a few stretches just prior to the run, my IT band tightened up in the first few feet with the tension persistent throughout the first mile. With some careful attention to foot-strike and slow adjustments for trail pitch changes, it held up nicely with no pain to speak of. Finished strong.

The finish would have been much nicer had someone not stolen my shirt and gloves I left at the trailhead. Apparently they were undeterred by the hefty stench and sweat-soaked clothes, which leads me to believe they needed them more than me.

And now for three of my favorite things: Ween, Legos, and stop motion....enjoy!

A Decent Little Week

Going into this week I knew I had a serious long run slated for the weekend, but i still needed to accomplish a couple other objectives: 1.) re-introduce speed work into the weekly schedule after a cold-induced hiatus 2.) build up weekly mileage through running most days of the week. There were some bumps along the way, but I'd say it was a decent little week.

Enjoy the following little diddy that won't get out of my head from Fleet Foxes.




4/18 - 24

Monday - 3 mi easy run (33:23) Teller Farms
Nice little shake out run after the awesomeness that is the Mesa loop.

Tuesday - 1.5 mi crappy run (15:13) Twin Lakes Trail
The outside of my left knee has been giving me intermittent twinges of awkwardness lately. I haven't figured out if it's simply an IT band issue or some sort of meniscus problem. Either way, it was acting up within the first five minutes of this run, so I cut an otherwise 4 mile easy run short. Bummer.

Thursday - 6 mi Speed work (3X800m @ 4:02, 3:58, 3:23; 51 mins tot)
After skipping a speed work last week, it was nice to let the legs fly for a little bit. Started a bit soft to test the knee, which felt nice throughout. Finally got into the fun zone with the last 800 split. Hopefully I can stay in the low 3's from here on out, but we'll see.

Friday - 4 mi (35:30) Easy run around Twin Lakes with an extra loop around the east lake
One of the many goals of the running ramp-up this season is to run most (if not all) days of the week, so this run made progress toward that goal.

Saturday - 13.5 mi (2:56), 1800 ft vert. Mesa Trail loop w/ Emily
Foolish, but fun. I couldn't help but double the distance i did on this trail the previous week. This was by far the toughest 13.5 miles I’ve done in a long time. My long runs have historically been on roads or local Boulder paths, so I definitely wasn’t accustom to ascending and descending any significant hills. Last week was my first time running this trail and I was so excited about the new terrain that I figured I’d try doing a long run on it. Emily and I had a mellow pace for the first loop to save energy for the second bout, yet the first ascent was just as challenging as last week. The first loop (6.5 mi) was done in 1:24. For the second loop, Emily suggested we do it in reverse. When she said “this is where the wheels fall off”, I knew it was going to be a proper run. When we hit South Shanahan Fork, my legs were beginning to feel heavy and a half-mile further, I succumbed to walking for 20 yards or so. I have never walked during a long run before, but this wasn’t just a long run. This was a cardiovascular moment staring into the whites of Jesus’ eyes. I don’t wear a heart monitor, but I definitely felt like I was pushing the upper boundaries. Once I made it back to the Mesa trail for the final stretch, I was thrilled to be descending and took a few moments to coast and enjoy the snowy view of the Eldorado Springs area. I've never run for 3 hours straight and without water. Felt great.

Here We Go

Howdy. This is my running blog, which will include weekly posts of, well, my runs and other fairly meaningless stuff related to running in general.

I'm not really a fan of the conventional social media outlets available today, but I still want my friends and family to see how my running is progressing. Plus, next month is my two year anniversary of running consistently and what better way to commemorate that banal feat by starting a blog about running. This all may be a bit self-indulgent and I'm ok with that. So long as people are, at the very least, mildly stoked on what I post, I'll be happy. So, with that, here we go...

4/11-17

Tuesday - 12 mi (1:52) Gbarrel to Arapahoe via Valmont City Park Path
After missing my long run on Sunday, due to a pesky cold, I decided to tack on a long run at the start of the week with the intention of cramming another long run on the back end of the week. This was only the second decidedly long run of the season, but kept a mellow pace and the legs felt good afterwards.

Thursday - 3.5 mi (35:20) Twin Lakes Loop
Easy run

Saturday - 7 mi (1:20), 900ft elev. Mesa Trail loop
Hopefully the first of many trail runs on the front range this Spring/Summer. It was so nice to branch out and run on virgin trails (for my feet anyway). The elevation, although relatively minor compared to other trails in the area, was a much needed boost in vertical for my current regimen. With the guidance of Emily, Mehri and I had a blast charting new territory together.