Feb 3-16

Returning to less consequential matters...

Feb 3
Am: 3 miles easy on CR 250 w/ Tanner
Pm: 2 x 5 x 200 @ goal mile pace in a snowstorm. Average right at 36. Brrr…

Feb 4
3.9 miles easy on CR 220 in the snow and bitter cold.

Feb 5
3.5-mile fartlek on CR 210, 26 minutes, avg HR 153. Just trying to get something workout-like in on a stressful day.

Feb 6
3-mile dog jog w/ Tanner on CR 250

Feb 7
3-mile dog jog w/ Tanner or CR 210

Feb 8
Big rush to get to the hospital today. 1.75 miles easy dog jog with Tanner in the dark before saying goodbye to Salida, the dogs, and home for the next couple of months.

Feb 9
3.66 miles in 26:20 in 3-4 inches of new snow around City Park in Denver. Sloppy and messy, but still pushed the pace a bit to relieve some stress.

Feb 10
3.8 miles in 30 minutes along Cherry Creek Bike Path and towards Wash Park.

.5 miles extra running from parking a car.

Feb 11
6 miles in 43:40 on Cherry Creek bike path, HR < 150. Icy and sloppy much of the way.

Feb 12
6 miles in 43:30 along the Cherry Creek bike path, HR <150. Conditions were cleaner, but I sure do miss me some Chaffee County dirt roads. These concrete paths are brutal on my bad ankle.

My days now are basically hospital, run, meditate, shower, repeat.

Feb 13
6.17 progressive run through the Country Club neighborhood and around Wash Park; 45:52. Conditions were bad enough that it was hard to get speed going mechanically, simply because every step was on ice, slush, and inconsistent packed snow. Good effort, but I never got any turnover going.

Feb 14
3.8 miles easy w/ 6 strides and 2 10-second max sprints on the Cherry Creek path. Warmer day today with clearer paths. Too many slow days in a row, so just trying to prioritize turnover today.

Feb 15
10 x 90 seconds @ 5k pace plus 2 x 20-seconds @ mile pace. Averaged low 5:30s for the 5k reps and a shade under 5-minute pace for the reps at the end. Running sub-5 pace in Hoka Cliftons feels like sprinting with balloons on your feet. But since the only clear space to run here is a concrete path, that’s what I got.

Decent run considering I got about 3 hours of sleep last night. 6.9 total

Feb 16
7.8 miles on Cherry Creek path in 57:40, HR sub 150. Felt solid.

Been doing long, slow barefoot walking meditations instead of seated meditation the last few days. I find that’s helpful to loosen up scar tissue in the ankle when it’s flaring up. Been feeling less acute ankle pain on the concrete paths since I started doing that.