10/21-1027

Oct 21

3.3 miles recovery w/ strides on CR 220, 26:10

Oct 22

Am: 5 miles easy on CR 210, 39:20, max HR 145

Pm: Last workout before state w/ the lead boys. 800 @ their goal race pace (2:42), followed by 8 x 200 starting at 39, working down to 35. Around the perimeter of the soccer fields. Workout felt pretty comfortable, actually. 4.5 total.

Oct 23

7.6 miles on CR 220 in 59:50, max HR 145. Windy with a capital W.

Oct 24

Got about 8 inches of snow at my house.

Am: 4.2 miles easy on the mill, max HR 145. For some reason, I run nearly a minute slower per mile on the treadmill at the same level of intensity that I do outside. Have no idea why that is.

Pm: 3.7 miles on CR 140, max HR 145. First 3 miles in 22:18, then watched pooped out. Felt good.

Oct 25

10 x 1 minute on, one minute float on CR 140. On sections averaged 5:30, floats averaged 8.

6.2 w/ warmups, strides, and cooldown

Oct 26

5.5 miles running around at the state meet in Colorado Springs.

Kids did well, but the final result wasn’t quite what we’d hoped. 4^th place for boys, 9^th for girls. Most of the kids ran to expectations, but a couple of kids struggled that had been solid all year. We needed everything to go perfectly to have a chance at the win; there was no margin of error. 

Still thrilled with the experience of my first year coaching. Was a great experience getting to know the kids and rediscovering the sport of cross-country. Thinking about taking a role in winter training as well, but some details left to be determined.

Oct 27

Am: 6.1 miles, max HR 145 at Mears Junction. Watched pooped out at 4, but probably around 45:30 total.

Pm: 5 miles, max HR 145 on CR 45, 36:30. Windy and cold. Winter is coming.

10/14-10/20: Victory in the Jellybean Races

Oct 14
Am: 4.4 miles in 33:50 on CR 250, max HR 145
Pm: 5.5 miles in 41:50 on CR 220, max HR 145

Oct 15
Am: 4.3 miles in 34:00 on CR 210, max HR 145
Pm: Jellybean races w/ XC team.

Idea is a two-person relay to run a 5k. Each person does an 800, 600, 400, 400, 300, and then gets to rest while their partner is running.

Our team won among the 16 teams. Course was a little long. My watch said 8:32 for 1.62 miles broken up w/ about 6 minutes of rest in between the repeats.

5.4 miles total w/ warmup and cooldown

Was coughing and wheezing after this. The combination of smoke and anaerobic intensity really got to me.

Oct 16
Runny nose and coughing. Still struggling from yesterday

Am: 4 miles Fooses Creek in 37 minutes. Felt like garbage. No HR monitor. Sluggish would be an understatement.
Pm: 2.9 in 23:40 on CR 220

Oct 17
Travel to regionals in the Springs. Boys got 2nd, three points behind The Classical Academy. Girls got 3rd, one point behind rival Alamosa. Not quite the result we wanted but next week’s the one that matters.

Am: 3 miles in 23:20 along CR 311 on the way to the Springs
Pm: 3.2 jogging and running along the course

Oct 18
Am: Was hoping to do 8 x 400 with all of them under 75 seconds on CR 220. Ended up doing 6 x 400 with all of them under 76. Averaged 74 low. Felt like garbage.

Once upon a time I did 6 x 400 with all reps under 63, and the final one in 55. Ha! Anaerobic stuff does not improve with age.

5 miles w/ warmup and cooldown.

Pm: 4.4 miles in 33:10 on CR 250, max HR 150

Oct 19
8 miles in 61:10 on Mears Junction to Marshall Pass, max HR 150

Wife and I then headed down to Crestone for a 2-night meditation retreat at the Crestone Mountain Zen Center.

Oct 20
4.1 miles easy in 32:40 on the road past the Zen Center toward the Stupa.

10/7-10/13: Downhill 5k Time Trial, 17:12

Oct 7

Am: 4.7 on CT/Fooses Creek in 40:20, max HR 145, 800 ft. gain.

Pm: 4.9 home to CR 250 in 39:30, max HR 145, 600 ft. gain.

Oct 8

Am: 4 miles 30:50 max HR 145 on CR 220

Pm: 5.2 miles w/ XC team pacing various groups in a workout with 400s and 1ks on the track, mostly with the girls.

Oct 9

3.3 miles recovery w/ strides on CR 210

Oct 10

Around 1:30: First cold day of the season. It was windy with snow flurries in the morning, but there was a break in the winds and snow around mid-day, so I decided to try my luck with a downhill time trial 5k on CR 140.

This route goes down about 300 ft. (8000-7700 ft.), so this isn’t a legitimate time nor is it a true reflection of my actual fitness. That said, it’s still encouraging. Downhill or not, that’s the fastest 5k I’ve run since the Clinton administration. Very pleased to be at that place less than five months removed from ankle surgery.

It's a little hard to know what that would look like on a flattish course. Unfortunately, there is really nowhere flat in Salida, so unless you're running on the track or on soccer fields, it's always up or down. So I chose down. I’d like to think this means I’m in about 17:45 shape on a flattish 5k at altitude. If that’s true, I’m probably right about where I was or maybe even slightly ahead of where I was when I hurt myself.

6.7 total w/ warm-up, strides and cooldown

Late pm: Windy and gnarly outside; 4 miles easy on mill, 35 minutes

Oct 11

Am: 7 miles on Marshall Pass in 55:30, max HR 145.

Pm: 4.4 in 34:30 on CR 210, max HR 145

Oct 12

7.4 miles in 58:30 on CR 220 & 221, max HR 150

Oct 13

Am: 1.8 mile hike w/ dogs & wife on Greens Creek

Pm: 3 miles w/ strides max HR 135 on CR 250, 24 minutes

9/30-10/6, Mr. T

September 30

4.3 miles in 36:20 w/ strides @ Big Bend. Recovery.

Oct 1

Am: 5.1 easy on 210 HR; HR max sub 145 in 40:50

Pm: Quarters hard w/ the XC team; the team did a hybrid 400s/tempo workout, I only joined them for the quarters. Great workout for the team and a pretty good workout for me, too. I did 10 quarters, averaging sub-80 with the last one in 65. Fastest quarter I’ve done in many years.

These were run on a hybrid road-dirt course with some hills and some wind. I measured it as a .24 loop, so a tiny bit short. Still, this workout was legit. Team’s looking good!

6.2 total

Oct 2

Am: 5 easy on CR 220 in 39:40; max HR sub 145

Fire got out of control last night, forcing evacuations of a few neighborhoods this morning, including the neighborhood we lived in last year before we moved into our current home. Air conditions are horrific in town, but fine where we live. Definitely starting to get scary to see such a big fire so close. 

The mood in town has switched from curious to very concerned and very serious. 

Pm: 5.9 easy on Aspen Ridge w/ CCRC folks.

Oct 3

Am: 6 mile subtempo in 42:50 on Marshall Pass, 800 ft. gain, between 8700 ft. and 9500 ft. Finished with 6:15 and 5:50 downhill miles.

The smoke from the fires is now all over. Going to make things icky out here for a while.

6.7 miles total w/ quick warmup and cooldown.

Pm: 3.2 easy home to the first cattle guard on 250 and back. 23:40, max HR 150, 300 ft. gain.

Oct 4

3 miles recovery on CR 220; max HR 135, 24:50

Oct 5

5.9 miles max 145 HR on CR 210, 700 ft. gain. Was going to run a bit longer but got stonewalled by another flipping bull.

Oct 6

Am: Went to Crested Butte for the night for the wife’s birthday. Ran on the Gothic road for 5.9 miles this morning in 44:50; 15 easy, 5 medium, 5 easy, 5 medium, 5 easy, 5 medium, jog in; elevation between 9350 and 9750.

Views from Gothic Road

2-mile mid-day hike with the wife and the dogs.

Somewhere near Ohio Pass

Pm: Back home. 4.1 easy w/ strides on CR 220, max HR 145. First 3 miles in 22:30 then my watch pooped out.

--

In non-fire related news, my wife and I adopted a new dog this week. He had been abandoned a couple of months ago on Monarch pass, was starving and probably had been hit by a car. We had been fostering him for the last month or so, and he was sweet enough that we decided to keep him. He had surgery three weeks ago to help with his hip, and he's doing well. 

The shelter named him Tanner, but we’re thinking of calling him Walden, since he was lost in the woods.

Right now, I’m calling him Wally Tanner, Tan Tans, T-ball, and Mr. T. We'll see what sticks.

Mr. T