Ultra running – Page 5

Week in review…

The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Tues 16 Mar: 00:46, 4.69 miles, Casa trails surges
Wed 17 Mar: 2:08, 13.5 miles, Dearborn tempo
Thurs 18 Mar: 00:32, 3.11 miles, Snowy trails slog
Sat 20 Mar: 00:40, 4.35 miles, Treadmill surges
Sun 21 Mar: 5:00, ~30 miles, Long, slow Boulder run
TOTAL: 8.75 hours, 55 miles

This was a pretty solid week of training, actually – especially considering how I felt most of the week. After last Sunday’s effort, I was a little beaten up going into my normal schedule and though I was able to keep up the plan, I was definitely feeling it this week. On top of that, I donated platelets/plasma on Wednesday and that took it out of me a bit. Thursday I had to drag myself out on my run but, as experience is proving, once I got out there, I had a great time. I did modify my route to be more about entertainment than running (post-holed for much of the “run” in deep snow drifts) but sometimes that is what you have to do. Mix it up. Enjoy.

By Saturday I was feeling pretty much all together again and Sunday’s run was another tour of way North Boulder. Amazing how the miles just tick off. By hour 4 I was getting a little tired but finished up relatively strongly (even if getting a bit sore) and managed to come away from the whole experience feeling very positively about the effort. I must admit that I am a little sore today but am sure that will pass quickly.

While running multiple hours on end, one has the opportunity to do a lot of thinking and one item that comes up fairly often for me is the philosophy that there is no such thing as a bad run. Sure, some are more productive than others, or hurt less, or have an overall quality that surpasses others, but really, there are lessons to be learned from each and every experience. Sometimes the lessons are big (remember to drink, don’t step on rusty nails, punching yourself in the face is not a good motivator) and sometimes they are as simple as, “I can do this!” Regardless, I have discovered that getting out there, even if the end result doesn’t feel especially “good”, is way better than not getting out there.

Enjoy.

~stubert.

Go long…

Don’t bail: The best gold is at the bottom of the barrels of crap. – Randy Rausch

Sun 14 Mar: 4:41, 29.18 miles, North Boulder road/trail loop

While running on the dirt road system North of Boulder yesterday, I commented about the amazing feeling one gets when 2 hours of running just ticks by. We were about 12 miles into what would eventually become a 29+ mile Sunday jaunt and I realized that I had reached the point in my training where things are starting to really click. My mileage has increased to the point where I can go out for hours at a time without too much stress and a lot of satisfaction.

Yesterday, I started solo then hooked up with Art Ives. We then met up with the group to form a solid pack of about 10. It was chilly and a bit windy but everything just felt right. Cloud cover built throughout the day but nothing seemed to get in the way of forward progress and Art and I quickly settled into a nice rhythm that saw us slide off the front of the group. It was just one of those days where I was able to sustain a steady pace without a ton of effort. Good times.

We made our way back West and jumped on the Foothills Trail. What a joy to be back on trails, if only for a short period of time. Soon we hit the Boulder Valley Ranch trail system then split up, leaving me solo, once again, to complete the run.

In increasing drizzle, I spun through mile 26.2 in 4:14 and polished up the final 3 miles in 27 minutes. Finished strongly, on target and smiling all the way. A great early-season effort.

~stubert.

Slow and easy…

Release the Kraken! ~ Zeus

Thurs 11 Mar: 00:30, 2 miles, Shoe testing in Boulder
Sat 13 Mar: 00:40, 4.42 miles, Sloppy ‘hood run with surges

Two relatively mellow runs in prep for tomorrow’s long effort. Feeling okay, not great. Looking to make some footwear adjustments to try to adjust to my stride changes. Tested that out today and will shoot for testing again for part of tomorrow’s run.

My next race is two weeks away. Time is flying right now and I am looking to set up crew and pacers for Leadville soon. Still working out all the details but the target is approaching and will be here before I know it. Feeling like I am on track for sure.

Getting some Spring cleaning done as well and am hoping to finish out the garage attic as my new office this summer. We’ll see how that goes. It is stuffed with well… stuff right now so that has to be dealt with first then we can move on to the actual build out. We’re also making some big strides at work right now, which is nice. Good to have goals and to have some momentum building.

That’s about it for now. Check in again tomorrow for a run report. Going to be out there for 4:40 and the weather is supposed to be a bit crappy so it could get interesting.

~stubert.

Patience is a virtue…

But I’m angry now. ~ Homer Simpson

Tues 9 Mar: 00:48, 4.8 miles, ‘hood surges
Wed 10 Mar: 2:01, 14.3 miles, Westview tempo

Janet’s call for patience seems to have paid off as the last two days featured pretty fantastic running. I tend to want to get after it when I slip on the trainers and, subsequently, find myself in a hole later in long runs. So I really worked on starting things off slow and easy (yesterday, especially) and it seems to have paid off thus far.

I focused solely on keeping my heartrate down during the warm up phase of yesterday’s run and, aside from one section that was exclusively uphill, was successful. Then I did a bunch of surges and felt fairly mechanical. In a good way.

Today, I jammed down to Boulder to meet up with the crew for a tempo run. I was a bit late getting started so my warm-up splits were a bit quicker than I intended and I also hooked up very quickly with another runner who is close to peaking for the Paris Marathon. So yeah, he is quick. We ran together to the start then got our tempo on.

Honestly, I felt great today. Really just worked the patience mantra and focused on breathing until Art cut me loose at about mile 5 out of 6.5. Timed my kick pretty well today and finished strongly then ran another half an hour cool down and mileage. Great stuff.

Tomorrow is an easy day then I jam on into the weekend where I am hoping to get in a couple more good runs in. Long on Sunday. Should be a blast.

~stubert.

Altitude…

And now, for no apparent reason... Molly.

He who argues for his limitations gets to keep them. ~ Richard Bach

Sat 6 Mar: 00:39, 4.31 miles, Neighborhood surges
Sun 7 Mar: 4:12, 23.19 miles, Casa to Ned loop via Mag and P2P

Did my first long(ish) solo run in the mountains this weekend and it went. I was a bit hammered by the end but did manage to stay out almost as long as I wanted. Temps dropped a bit in the last several miles and this, coupled with my starting a bit too fast, contributed to the suffering at the end. Not sure that my elevation gain/loss numbers are anywhere near correct either but the entire run was done above 8000 feet. Good altitude training for sure.

Also saw Alice in Wonderland on Friday to celebrate our anniversary. Rach has put up with my shenanigans for 19 years now and frankly, I am not sure how she does it but I am grateful that she does! Hoping for another 19, fun-filled years with my sweetie.

~stubert.