July 29-Aug 4

July 29
Uncle and aunt arrived from Ireland last night. I had expected a light day of physical activity, but I should have known better.

Despite being flatlanders in their mid-60s and having never been higher than 3000 ft., we did a 5-mile hike with 2500 ft. of elevation gain up to the continental divide on technical terrain. And they were not bothered in the slightest. They loved it.

We came home and my uncle then proceeded to thrash me in a backyard game of horseshoes.

July 30
Am: Another short but vigorous am family hike around O’Haver lake. 2 miles.

2 pm: Aborted run. Only went .9 because of a quick-moving thunderstorm.

4 pm: 2 miles more light & easy on the mill

Weird day because of the visitors, work catch up, and the weather

5 miles total – spent a lot more time on my feet than I normally would have preferred on my easy days, but it was great to spend time with family.

July 31
40-minute subtempo run, 16 up and 15 down; CR 203, 8.53 miles in 71 minutes total, rolling hills between 8500-9000 ft.

5.2 miles on the subtempo section. About 25 seconds a mile faster than two weeks ago at the same level of intensity, running five minutes longer.

Aug 1
Happy August!

5.67 miles in 61 minutes on the continental divide trail near Monarch, between 11,300 and 11,900 ft. Lots of rollers that knock the wind right out of you. That and running at nearly 12,000 ft.

Easy day ridge running at its finest. First time running above tree line this year. Love this section of trail!

Happy August from Monarch Pass!

Aug 2
42 minutes at the pool. So nice.

Starting next week, I’m going to move up to six days a week of running. But these pool days are here to stay.

August 3
20-minute tempo run on the track, Avg. HR 163, 6:58 pace, 2-mile warmup and cooldown plus strides. 7.25 miles total. 62 minutes total running.

Was hoping that a tempo effort would have been closer to 6:45 pace. But I am where I am. You can’t force fitness.

August 4
Went out to Paonia for the weekend, just to eat a bunch of fruit and hang out. Found a dirt road, because there wasn’t much in the way of trails out there. Ran 5.15 miles in 44 minutes with about 700 ft. of gain. Avg HR 139.