To know the road ahead, ask those coming back. ~ Chinese Proverb
Just sayin’ is all.
~stubert.
Category: Ultra running
Tempotastic…
We have the technology. ~ Narrator
Tempo runs can get a little interesting. Today’s was mellow at the start, then smooth and awesome, then pretty miserable. Typical, really – but the wheels really came off about 45-50 minutes in. Especially when I tried to keep up with Art who was spinning 6:40s. Not pretty.
I parked just over 2.5 miles from the start and warmed up on the paths and roads of east Boulder. Then we did a few strides and queued up for tempo – splitting into about 3 groups. This is the third week I have come out to run with this group and it is a lot of fun to get in some good miles with other runners. My group started second to last with Art chasing and moved along at a pretty steady 7:30ish pace. Fairly sustainable from my perspective. About mile 3 I was feeling solid and kicked it up a notch to about 7:15s.
Overall, I wasn’t feeling super red hot today. I was still wearing the effects of Sunday’s long run and yesterday’s massage left me feeling a bit clunky. I ran alone for the next couple of miles then heard Art rapidly approaching so I slowed a bit to let him catch then tried to keep up as we ran past my starting point and across Valmont. He actually toned it down a bit from his standard 6:40 pace (I think) but I was unable to match that for long and soon turned back around to finish up my scheduled 55 minutes (poorly) then run some semblance of cool down.
All in all it was a great run. I was able to push myself and run very relaxed, just wasn’t quite able to keep up with someone faster and vastly more experienced than I. Nothing to be worried about for sure. Just part of what one has to experience to get better, stronger, faster.
~stubert.
Location, location, location…
Perfect practice makes perfect. ~ Vince Lombardi
One of the things I love about living where we do is our proximity to interesting people and terrain. In the winter, running in the high country becomes somewhat challenging as trails disappear beneath drifts of snow, the wind kicks it up to eleven and the temps drop. The Boulder/Denver basin, however, sees many days of sunshine and warmer temps that allow runners to get out and enjoy a wide variety of trails and safe running circuits. You can ski in the morning then drop down to Boulder and get in 20 miles in the afternoon. No sweat. (Well, maybe a little sweat.)
Today I headed down early to drop our kitty off at the vet then got a little work done and ran a few errands before heading out to Janet’s for our regularly scheduled training session (just a portion mapped there… forgot my Garmin). I warmed up in shorts and a Patagonia Capilene 1 T-Shirt
Then I went to Shirley for a great (if brutal) massage, picked up Beep and jammed back up to the hills. I did pick up some screws while down in Boulder to make some screw shoes. Probably not a bad addition to the gear list… just in case.
~stubert.
Weekends are good…
Chase atop Green. With mountains.
Slipped my mind. ~ Dean “The King of Empty Promises”
This was an action-packed weekend. Got up early on Saturday to do a quick run in the ‘hood. The trails around the house are still snow-jammed so it was slow going but fun to get out and give them a go. Ended up with just under 4 miles in 40 minutes.
Rach and I then met my Dad and Donna for a screening of Puccini’s Turandot. The Met has been broadcasting their performances to theaters across the nation (world, maybe) and they are pretty awesome. The screening we attended was completely packed so that bodes well for the program to extend for years to come. Good stuff.
Sunday, I met up with Chase for a long, slow run in Boulder. Beautiful day for it, too. We started out at the South Mesa trailhead and rocked the Mesa Trail north to Chautauqua. Then we headed up Gregory Canyon, Green Mountain and back down to Mesa via Bear Canyon, then south to Bluestem and back to the trailhead in a mellow 4 hours. My longest run for quite some time. Felt awesome and was good to have some company. Just what the doctor ordered.
Also, here is a video of our new kitty, Nino, who has some interesting quarks: She likes peanut butter, chili, yowling, potato chips, hostile occupation of the bunny magic dream cottage, refusing to recognize our right to exist, being a meezer, catching mice, watching Rach shower (me too! go figure) and… drinking from the tap.
Looking forward to more fun and/or games this week.
~stubert.
edit. GPS info for this run.
Snow becomes water…
The slow one now will later be fast. ~ Bob Dylan
One reason I have very little tolerance for people who complain about the weather here in Colorado is that it so frequently changes. Yes, we might have gotten nearly 4 feet of snow last week but that certainly wasn’t going to stick around very long. And rest assured, it hasn’t.
After my foray to the gym on Saturday, I headed to the valley early Sunday to help Rach clean runs at the Bunny shelter then jammed up to Boulder for a long(ish) run. I read trail reports that indicated heading west, into the foothills might not result in the most fluid of forward motion so opted for an easterly route.
Temps were just about perfect and cloudless skies accompanied my as I started the day’s adventure at the South Boulder Campus trailhead and ran south on very muddy roads, eventually intersecting with Broadway (or Highway 93 at this point). I felt great and though I had forgotten my Garmin, used the iMapMyRun app on my iPhone to track my progress. Pretty cool, actually, if a bit of a battery hog. Marshall road to Bobolink to the South Boulder trail… all ticked off quickly as I maintained a steady pace and felt strong.
Phase two of the run switched from dirt to slab as I made my way North and eventually hooked up with the Boulder Creek bike path and headed back West. I was running for time so had no real agenda regarding route and decided to run up the flank of Flagstaff then make my way back to the start. I definitely started feeling the pavement as I made the switch back to dirt and settled into an alternating power hike/run up to the saddle and back down to Chautauqua.
Rolling back down to Moorhead, I had problems keeping the pounding at bay but once the roads flattened out I settled into a steady pace and actually felt pretty solid. A brief stop to say “hi” to Houseboy Bob who was busy pushing his custom buggy around the front yard then on to the finish. Final tally: 17 miles and 2:40. Not blazing speeds but as always, good times.
I definitely felt the run after getting home and probably should have taken some extra measures to stave off soreness before getting back on the road. Some ab involvement and my hips were a bit sore. I was not as fatigued as I thought I might be the following day and it was great to see the bod kick into gear and recover. I even headed back to the gym today for some weight and plyometric training. It was good to get some activity in the legs today and I plan on adding these types of activities to my regular regimen. Setting my goals for 2010 pretty high so I’ll need to keep things moving throughout the winter months to accomplish everything I am aiming for. This was more than a little tough last year so I’ll have to stay focused and plan to come out of the winter months in stellar condition to hit the ultra circuit hard.
This week I have runs scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (though this may be replaced by some skiing) and again both days on the weekend. Drop me a line if you want to join in the fun and/or games.
~stubert.