Training Log Archive: Ari-o

Back to stadium. In marathon training mode, so fast on the downs. Felt okay, but will probably hurt later. Still feeling a bit tired after the cold (and maybe the long run Monday).

My dad was driving to the dump so I got a ride to the bottom of the hills and skied back, saving a walk up the road. Skied up the Church Road, up Thundercastle and the Chase Road, then up Nickerson, down 17, back up Old Kent's Hill, and down to camp. Didn't scrub speed coming down Lane Road, but that curve is banked enough you can take it at speed, and there's not too much gravel on it these days. Would have gone around the lake but the road on the other side has a bunch of gravel culvert repairs but that means just one thing: the loop around the lake's worst pavement is getting repaved!

Waited for the shadows to creep up around 4:00 and set out for a long run. Wasn't sure I'd make it more than around the lake (9 miles) but kept the pace steady and set out around Echo, too. Lovely day: 70, dry, light breeze, nearly all in the shade. Didn't once think of stopping to jump in a lake. Definitely enjoyed the beer at the end!

Feeling a lot better after a day of NyQuil haze. Not perfect, but enough to get out for a rollerski. Legs certainly felt not rollerskiing for a while, but I wanted to check out the pavement on Route 17, which allows for a very nice 5.5 mile loop with two proper hill climbs. Did that, then down P Ridge and back. Rollerskiing here is good, if you're confident in your stopping ability especially.

Well I was looking on pace for a 66 hour month to break my top month's record, uninjured and with a perfect stretch of weather in Maine (70˚ and dry). I had my 20 mile run planned out, and was off scouting a terrific rollerski six-mile figure-8 with two big climbs and the downhills on brand new pavement. And then … the cold went from my head to my throat and I've slept 13 hours today and barely been able to muster more than a bit of walking. (Okay, so part of that was taking some NyQuil in the morning and sleeping more, but sleep helps.)

Some more NyQuil tonight and hopefully I'll be on the upswing tomorrow. A shame to waste such beautiful weather.

Still feeling sick, but got to Maine and wanted to run. Ran the "power loop" which is all hills: 200m+ of vert in less than 10k. Kind of painful, but maybe I can run the sick out of me.

C • 200m+ of vert in less than 10km 3

Driving home from Eclipse to Boston via Chicago, Cleveland (Red Sox game, one hitter!), Akron and the ancestral homeland. Stopped at Ricketts Glen to stretch legs because 10 hours in a car is a lot. And holy moly waterfalls. Ran up the trail, took a bunch of pictures, lots of steps, then down the other glen. Just lovely! My dad walked in to the first set of falls and out, and I ran down and caught him perfectly 50 feet from the start. Then pizza!

Running around the track. No real workout proffered, but someone mentioned 2x800, 4x400 with a couple miles on the bike path first. I changed this to 1x1600, 2x800, 4x400, 2x200, 2x100. Started off feeling lousy (cold? allergy? too much time in heat and car?) but felt better, reeling off the 200s in 35s and the 100s in 15.

Interstitials

In Kentucky, it's 95 and humid. Good day to take a break from training. And then eclipse!

I had this idea for a while, to take the Red Line as far south as it goes, and run back north. I found some friends to come with, took the train south, and we started running north.

The south side was interesting, not somewhere I spend a lot of time. Some broken glass, one CPD officer checking on a bum, and nothing much else. We had someone give us drinks at mile 10, and started going faster with a smaller group at mile 14. It was pretty warm at this point, and the next 10 miles were fast, but it got struggly, even drinking. We stopped at a Whole Foods, filled a liter of water, and I decided that I'd stop at Howard both because 23.5 seemed to be enough and because if I ran the rest it was going to be nip-and-tuck to get to the airport for my flight.

Good long run, seven weeks before Chicago. It will be nice to do this when it's cooler. Super fun run, and my strava track looks like a red line …

C • That sounds like a fun adve... 3

Went up to Milwaukee to get a tag on my t-shirt. Running around a block of the river in town (quite nice, like a mini-Chicago) and doing other stuff.

And the other stuff.

NP warm-up run

Running around a park doing things like you do at NP Chi.

Various core stuff during the workout

Andy: "Our 'burnout' is named after a long-time member of the Boston tribe."

Well, there's not a workout named after me (yet), so I knew what was coming.

1 Sebastian = 7 minutes of burpies. 82 by the end and I was spent. Super sweaty out.

In May, I ran a sub-3 marathon a week after a long race in Harriman. This fall, it looks like I'll get to do it again.

Highlander!

Trail running vacation came to an end with the Buchanan-Pawnee Loop. Near Boulder, beautiful, waterfalls, passes, all the good things.

Got a later-than-hoped-for start (sleep is good) and started a bit after 8. Lovely running across to the climb to Buchanan pass, pretty much deserted. Pass climb wasn't too bad, and the run down was great. Then up along a bunch of waterfalls, dipping my hat in the streams to cool down.

The climb was then about 3700 feet to 12500, so it was relatively slow going. Stopped to treat water at one point, too. Clouds started rolling in near the pass, and across the top some rain/hail did too. Lightning/thunder never got too close, but with no shelter, way too close for cover. Ran as best I could to treeline, then kept running to stay warm. Went from too hot to too cold, of course.

Once in the car I gave a couple people I'd passed a ride down the road, too, drank warm water (car had been warm in the sun), ate all the food. Legs feel good, in 12 days I've run 137 miles with 10408m of climb (more than Everest). 29 hours (doable) and 7000m (uhhh) to beat Sep '13. And I stand at 49957m of climb for the year. Half way!

Quick warm up before race.

What's fun? Running a half marathon at 7800 feet! Lindsay wanted to run a half and suggested we have a camping weekend in the San juans (good idea, they are stunning) and run a half. With an upcoming marathon a road race sounded good.

Met them in silverthorne, motel in montrose, 7:30 start. The course was mostly downhill. Several Kenyan Olympian types who train in the area run it. I lined up a couple rows back, right in front of two women with packs and hiking poles (so as not to trample them but seriously, 700 person field) and they said go! And the race started up a 100 foot climb through town. At 7800 feet. Two days off the 4PL.

I blew up. My second mile was 7:45, which may be the slowest mile I've ever run in a road race. Also the highest. I got some Gatorade and managed to get in to more of a rhythm on the lovely dirt road along a river (the best views mostly behind us) as we ran down the box canyon in the shade. Heart rate sitting at 140, super low because tired legs and elevation.

I regained composure and managed to find a 7:00-or-so pace. I ran with a small pack for a while and then slowly dropped them, as the course flattened and had a couple of hills, able to push the pace a bit, not just surviving. With four miles to go, a straight section of road showed two runners in view: a woman a minute ahead and a guy about 45 second ahead. I decided to catch them.

The woman slowed a bit and walked a hill around mile 11. I was slowly gaining on the guy, within striking distance with a mile to go. There was a long, gradual uphill. I put the hammer down, peaked my heart rate over 150 (L4 at this elevation, it seems) and passed him like he was standing still. I saw Dylan, Lindsay's boyfriend, on a bike, and he asked if I needed anything. Nope, half a mile from the finish.

The next runner was 1:30 ahead. Out of sight, out of mind.

Finished okay, at 1:35 my slowest road half, but for the elevation and prep a good long run. So that's okay.

We lucked in to a nice campsite, set up tents, and then drove up the 4x4 road (in subarus, although someone in a Camry made it almost as far) before hiking the rougher sections. I call this the holy shit hike. The scenery was otherworldly. Just overwhelming. We made it to 13000 feet with views that can not be described. Not fast hiking, tons of photos, but any effort above 11500 is loggable. And Imogene is on the list for one of these years.

We'd discussed running in to Conundrum in the morning but Ali had to be back in Fort Collins by 4:30 for work/school stuff so that would have been a bit much. After eschewing 14ers because storms, I found what looked like a nice loop near the road, but the terrain wound up being a bit too rocky to run fast, so we instead headed up the mountain the loop went around. Got to 11800, looked at the sky, turned around, and got hailed on on the way down. It was sunny by the car. Okay, thanks, Colorado.

Four Pass Loop! Total time about 9:30. This is THE loop in Colorado, four passes between 12400 and 12500, stunning lakes, flowers, etc. Hard to describe with words or pictures.

Set out at 7:30 after waiting out a thunderstorm in the parking lot (jumped back in to the car after a lightning bolt slammed across the parking lot). Beautiful light on the Maroon Bells, but as we went in to the woods, another thunderstorm hit. But at least it was in the woods. We were passed by a female trail runner with just a vest (impressive) but the sky cleared out before we hit treeline and we trucked up the first pass, cresting in about 1:45. Stunning country. The views over Snowbank Lake particularly impressive.

Then down, running 17s or so, down in to the valley to about 10800, and then back up the second pass. Beautiful weather so far. Long steep descent to 10300 or so, and then a nice climb up. River ford (felt so good), beautiful waterfall, steep climb up next to it, then this wide open valley above the waterfall words can't describe. There was a storm passing well to our north, so we went along, struggling up over the third pass, before cresting it and coming down for a jog to the final pass.

Here our weather luck ended. A storm swept in as we ascended the final pass. Around 12000 feet, we found a gully to duck in to and ride it out as hailstones stung our legs and back (and our feet finally got properly wet). Once it passed, we scampered up the pass, with another hail shower at the top, and ran/slid down the other side. Unfortunately the rain had made the rest of the trail down quite wet, and it was already prone to mud and washouts, so it was the least fun part; the rest of the trails had been perfect. We went from considering a hike in to hot springs to camp for the night to talking about a hotel room (and found one for <$100 in Aspen!). The last couple miles were pretty struggly, but the loop overall spectacular and epic and definitely worth the price of admission.

We hadn't stopped on the way down just wanting to get to the car. Once there I at nearly an entire log of goat cheese, lots of nutella, and other such goodness. It was maybe a bit much (and I was dehydrated already) but we still went and got pizza. It was an excellent adventure all around.

Volume training plans for the rest of the month! Goals: Lots of vert, lots of hours, no injuries.

9: Hike/trail run somewhere fun. Hot springs?
10: Four Pass Route, 26 mi, 2000m
11: Recovery
12: Dirt road half marathon, 7800 ft to 7000 ft, then maybe afternoon hike?
13: Hike somewhere fun, drive back to Front Range
14: Pawnee-Buchannan Loop, 26 mi, 2000m (will save the N bus to Eldora-hike to Winter Park-train to Denver for another time)
15: Travel to Chi
16-18: Chi, overnight to Mke (NP)
19: [tentative] CTA Marathon, travel to Louisville
20: Louisville
21: ECLIPSE
22: Chi-Cle, BOS@CLE
23: Cle-Bos
24-28: Maine
29-31: Orientation, most of which I can skip and go rollerskiing or whatever.

Heading up with Ali for the 4 Pass Loop. Quick run up at Independence Pass (Gorgeous!) and then down, up to 12800.

Waiting out a storm in Boulder (it is raining a lot here) and thinking about month goals. One is biggest month ever in hours (66). The other is trying to put a big dent in 100km of climb for the year. I'm at 42km right now, but may well hit another 15km this month alone. Then it's just 10km/month, and I can do a lot of that by throwing some extra stadium workouts in. I'm crazy.

Puttering around, then thunderstorm, but then it cleared out. Cool and moist, not really Colorado weather. Up on the Boulder Trails, up and down and up and down and then up up up. Legs feeling a little tired, got passed by another runner and his dog (no water for that guy, yikes) and then went up South Boulder Peak. Then up Bear Mountain, and down Bear Canyon, a couple slick and wet spots but mostly fine. Not super fast, but enough vert to make up for it.

It was raining overnight in Colorado (this doesn't happen) but that didn't keep me from running over to the Ascenders Project (proto-NP). Lots of hills, got kind of lost, a couple minutes late.

Ascenders Project was running back and forth along a path, doing exercise-y things, and sprinting up a bit. In the rain. In a light, Colorado rain in August. Which is odd.

Various core stuff too.

Well.

It was raining in Boulder. Light, cool, rain. New England in September. Not Colorado in the summer.

But we figured we'd drive up to the mountains and go adventuring! Parked the car, started hiking up to the divide. L1, probably, eff HRMs, just a lovely day for a hike, and not much rain. Pushed 18 minute miles, uphill, starting at 9000 feet. Conversational pace the whole time.

The trail was beautiful. Foggy, but wildflowers and just lovely. Felt like a foggy day in the Whites. Last bit to the divide was wicked steep, but we topped out at 12k feet, lost the trail for a moment, and then went and found it.

A bit on we heard a rumble of thunder. Oh, hello, we started jogging. Dropped some fast-enough miles, and the thunder rolled off, and we checked the map at a trail junction (map being on the phone, we forgot the map, and enough food, adventure!). We were close to the trail junction, dropped in to a beautiful valley with snow and a lake, and in to the trees. No thunder. No lightning.

It rained a bit harder going down, but we were in the trees. Nice hike out, tired, cold, lots of goldfish, beer.

A little hungover, out for a run up the dirt road out behind the wedding venue. Hills! And nice views.

Out to Colorado for a wedding. First run: up in Crested Butte. Starts at 9000 feet and goes up. Easy to get to by bus from the wedding venue (really!) and a lovely mostly-trail run up to a beautiful mountain lake. Just a little too cool out to take a dip. Ran until my HR was in the 140s, then hiked, which was most of the hills.

Run down, mostly running.

Running around the field by the bean, doing things.

NP stuff, and learning how to do jumping jacks. Really.