Sitting at 2600 miles on the year. Would like to get damn close to 3000 before Vegas, so I can take the rest of December off.
Tore it up on the Green Monster front as well, now sitting at 90 on the year.
Monday, October 31, 2011
October
Easy 10.2 miles after work to get away from all the kids, 1:39. Brings my October total to 314 miles. Second highest monthly total of 2011. Some pretty epic miles in there, including the Zion Traverse, the sub three at Wisconsin Dells, and the Boulder Basic.
quote of the day
From the Gazette today:
"The Broncos lack quality quarterbacks, receivers, running backs, offensive linemen, defensive linemen and defensive backs. Other than those holes, this is a marvelous football team."
The Tebow lovers aren't quite as loud today as they were on Saturday...
monday
AM - Easy three mile dog jog, 30 minutes.
Weighed in at 168.4 pounds this morning. I'll post my morning weigh in from now until Vegas. Gonna try to get down to 159 for that race. Think the 168 today was a little high due to some not-so-healthy activities this weekend.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
week
Solid recovery week, 56 miles, including my first Boulder Basic. Legs feel pretty good so I'll jump back into some harder workouts this week.
Easy run in Ute Valley today with the Pikes Peak Road Runners. Here's a pic, courtesy of Pikes Peak Sports.
Friday, October 28, 2011
fri
Felt pretty good on the Incline last night. Was worried how the quads would hold up on the way down, but they're fine. Looks like I'll need to come up with a new excuse for a shitty run in Boulder on Saturday.
Signed up for the Backcountry half marathon again. Fast Eddy's home course, we'll see if he has the cojones to show up. Gave it about the hardest effort I've ever given for that distance last year, and still ran something like 1:45. Hard course, but lots of fun. Should be a good tune up for Vegas.
I'm running the Fall Series Ute Valley race on Sunday dressed as a beer bottle...
Thursday, October 27, 2011
track
Quads are still sore but I wanted to get the legs spinning today. 1.5 mile warm up, 6 x 800m with 400m RBI, 1.5 mile cool down. CC track. Started at 3:15 and worked down to 3:09. Very easy effort, and the legs were starting to feel good by the end.
On the way to the track I saw a homeless dude sleeping on the sidewalk. I wondered if he was dead, as it was 21F at 5:30AM and who knows how cold it got overnight. But on the way back I saw the dude standing up and taking a leak on that new Mansion bar downtown, right on Tejon in plain view of everyone. Classic!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Blue Earth, MN
time to get serious...
Somebody brought donuts to work today. I usually eat at least a half dozen. Today I had none. That's how serious I am about breaking 2:50 in Vegas...
Might have to delete this post later on since there are still a bunch of donuts left. But for right now, I'm damn serious about getting in shape!
Wisconsin Dells Marathon
While I'm now the definite frontrunner for the Rick H "cherrypicker of the year" award at the next CRUD party, that's not how the event was supposed to go down. Last year had a winning time of 2:43, and I knew I wouldn't be close to that. I had a feeling I might be able to sneak under three hours, but also knew that going for that time could result in walking the last few miles and barely hitting sub four.
The Dells is a pretty hard marathon course with lots and lots of rolling hills. Definitely not a PR type course. So I'm pretty psyched that I went in there and grabbed my third best time ever. The icing on the cake was claiming another victory over a hated rival, Josh J., who would PR and go sub three for his first time ever, and will hear about finishing second place for the rest of his life.
Easy start, hit the first mile in eight flat after stopping to take a leak. Josh was about 30 seconds ahead at this early point, and I spent the next few miles slowly catching back up. Josh and I would stay close for the first half, never running more than a few seconds ahead or behind one another. Really gambling for me to stay with him, as he just threw down a PR of 1:23 at the Denver half, a good four minutes faster than I thought I could run given my current fitness. Had some tightness in my right hamstring early on, something I hoped wouldn't ruin my day later.
About nine miles into the race Josh and I moved into second and third place. Talked with the guy we passed, he was pretty gassed and said he was already five minutes ahead of his planned pace. So I knew he was done. It was now a battle for second, and bragging rights for a LONG time, between Josh and I.
Saw the lead runner pass us at mile 12.7ish. Timed him to the turnaround, he had about a five minute lead. And he looked strong, I thought he might beat us by a full ten minutes at the end of the day.
But I still had a race with Josh, as he was only four seconds back at the turnaround, which I hit in 1:28. Not blazing for me, but I was definitely working hard. I immediately picked up the pace, hoping Josh would fall back. Nope. He stayed on my ass for the next five or so miles.
By mile 19 I had finally opened a gap of 30 seconds or so on Josh, but I really worked to get it. Was already pretty spent and wondering if I could hold this pace. But then about two miles later I got a nice jolt of energy when I spotted the leader about 300 meters ahead, just before he disappeared around a turn. Thought that maybe if I pushed I could catch him by mile 25 and we could have a helluva race. But when I got up to that turn, I had already cut his lead in half, and it was obvious he was cooked.
I took the lead just before 22 miles. I wanted to run with the guy for a mile or two before taking the lead, but he was probably running 8:30 miles and I knew if I stayed that Josh would catch up. Really pushed hard from mile 22 to 24, 6:30 miles there, and that ended the race. Which was good, because at mile 24 the quad cramps started coming and I was done. Must have finished up with two miles well over 7:30. Wanted to run faster but I had the win and a sub three in the bag and I was afraid if I pushed any harder I would end up having to walk.
The finish was pretty funny. Had visions of the crowd going wild while I broke the tape, given my huge trophy by some supermodels. Nope. Crossed the finish line and nobody said anything. Finally, someone got up off a chair and handed me a half-marathon finisher medal. It was a good 45 seconds before anybody realized a marathon runner had finished.
Great seeing Josh cross the tape in 2:59:40. Big monkey off his back with finally getting that sub three.
Another awesome trip to Wisconsin. Lots and lots of beer drinking all week, highlighted with a solid marathon time. Gives me hope that if I can work my ass off for the next six weeks I'll at least have a chance at a 2:49 in Vegas...
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
my first movie
Trying to finally get the youtube thing down. Here's my first attempt, an in depth documentary on the recent Hawkeye Point hike.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
quote of the day
"I knew a few guys who couldn't break 3:00 in the marathon and I just couldn't even imagine how anyone could possibly be that slow."
-Amby Burfoot
Tough competition today, as there is a great Kenyan letsrun thread which includes gems like this:
"I am 5-7, weigh 97 pounds and only run 2:09 for a marathon. Am I fat? Should I drop five more pounds, or throw in the towel, bulk up and try for the completion of five unassisted push-ups?"
Monday, October 17, 2011
Mon
AM - easy dog jog. 4.5 miles, 45 minutes.
PM - nine miles on the Garden roads, 1:20. Pitch dark by 7PM nowadays.
bling
Think that's the 1000th pic I ripped from Pikes Peak Sports this year.
recycling
Put out the recycling bins this morning. One was overflowing with beer bottles and cans (not ususual). The other was packed solid with Krispy Kreme donut boxes. Not sure what the garbage guys think of us.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
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