Monday
AM 1:11; 7.46M; 1,590ft; Drove up to Walker Ranch to run the 7.5 mile loop. Great run, but I felt flat. Nice scenery in the canyon, crossing the S.Boulder Creek, etc… Nice to see how I can connect Eldorado Canyon to this trail.
PM :29; 3.44M; 39ft; Felt much better than this morning. Ran in North Boulder park with just my socks! Nice to get down below 8 min miles too. Did some general mobility stuff along with some bounding and jumping to keep that “explosive” power and speed. Will hopefully become a weekly routine.
Tuesday
AM 1:50; 13.5M; 3,000ft; I did my first “front side” ascent!
Aaron showed me the front side short and steep ascent route, which uses the “saddle rock trail” up to Greenman trail then to Green Mtn. I pushed it very hard on this, as Tuesdays are my hard hill days. Ran 33:23 from the parking lot at Gregory Canyon to the summit of Green mtn. Anton is my benchmark on really all things “Green” and his best is 30 min low… So yeah, while it was my first attempt and my first full week running “trail ultra style”, Anton can blaze up this daddy-o. I went a bit too hard early and had a slower than normal final greenman stretch though. I think I can run sub 33 next week (if trail conditions permit) with a little more patience and less first half hero excitement.
I’m scheming how I can get more of the local stars AKA, Anton, Geoff, Scott and Mackey to join us for our Tuesday (or Thursday!) Green Mountain Time Trial. Doing hard ascents is so much better with a group! Pro, Pro Hopefully AND those just out to run their own best, lets do it!
Wednesday
AM 1:16; 8.98M; 760ft; Nice easy run after the hill-climbing bonanza yesterday with Marcus, pretty slow, but that is what I needed.
PM :30; 3.76M; 133ft Felt way better running on the turf than this morning.
Thursday
AM 1:15; 9.56M; 533ft The best 2 on 3 off with 3 x 30 second finishes for Aaron and I yet! I averaged 4:50ish pace on the 2 minutes (on wonderland trails). On the 30 seconds we were flying, running 3:30ish to 3:50 pace slightly down hill… as in sub 30 second 200 meters. This was a great workout and great to see the speed coming. Next week 600M repeats on the track.
Friday SNOW!!!
AM 2:28; 13.01M; 2,999ft; Super flat after the awesome speed work combined with the first real snow of the winter… 6-8”! I ran from the house to EGF park then up Panorama and Flagstaff. I was breaking trail most of the time and running at a crawl. At about a half mile from the top of Flagstaff I bailed to the road to run to Green Mtn lodge. I was just working way to hard and needed a break if I was to get to Green. I was praying that the trail from the lodge to Green would be better… At the Lodge I honestly told myself I’d see how it felt and may just run back down the trail. After going minute to minute I convinced myself up ranger following Anton and Scott J’s tracks. I nearly turned around ¾ of the way up. I was feeling ultra negative, running double digit mile pace and not happy. I did get to the four way, but there was no way in hell I was going up to the top. I was spent. That was the first fail at Green I believe, but in reality I shouldn’t have even been running up anything today, flat on the sidewalk would have been the right choice. I had fun down Bear Canyon and made my way home. I left my jacket on the panorama trail… it is still there, but I have tons of running jackets. I’ll get it soon or someone who needs it can have it.
PM :10; 1.5M; 0ft; THE BEER MILE!!!! 6:57, 3rd place overall. SEE POST BELOW for Race Report!
Saturday
AM 2:14; 13.59M; 2,330ft; Maggie and I started our hike and run together at the Chautauqua park main lot. I ran mesa almost to the southern end and turned around after 5 miles. I was running slow due to the snow and flatness of a first big week running. I ran down skunk canyon through the cemetery and back home on the roads.
Sunday
AM 3:25; 20.05M; 4,212ft; After feeling flat and pretty tired the last two days I felt better today but still not recovered. I ran from the house to EGF, put on the Microspikes and climbed Panorama Point to Flastaff to Green Mt. Lodge in 52min. The trail and snow was challenging due to not many hiking this section, the consistent cold and wind keeping the snow shifting and drifting. The drifting snow only got more intense on Ranger, with many spots knee deep. I made it too Green but was certainly tired from the challenging snow climb. I ran down Bear-Green to Bear Canyon where I filled my water bottle after breaking the ice. The footing was much better on this protected stretch, but decided against a first ever double Green summit today and continued on to near the end of Mesa headed south, back mesa to the main parking lot then home with a bonus mile out and back from the house. The last 40 minutes I was surprised to feel pretty good averaging low 7 min/mile pace. This snow has made the week challenging, which the numbers won’t show!
14hrs 48 Minutes
94.85 Miles
15,596 Feet Climbing
What time on Tuesdays?
ReplyDeleteI know a handful of guys who have broken 33, and so your initial time on that is impressive. Not sure what Elliot ever ran, but I am sure he did. These days the group includes Anton, Lucho, Rickey G (although he is on the south pole at current), Dave M, Jeff V. I am sure that Geoff and Scott fall into that category, but I have no idea what their times are.
Dude - solid Sunday run to cap off a big week! To me that looks like some solid quality AND quantity...but that's my novice never having gone over 60 miles in a week perspective. Would definitely be cool to have some more fast folks meeting up for the weekly workouts. The Fort collins folks seem to do a lot of that, and there's at least as many fast runners down here than up there.
ReplyDeleteHey Zach!
ReplyDelete6:30AM is the time we have been meeting up. Would love to have you.
Same time for Thursdays if that is of interest too.
Aaron,
You are right, it was both for me!
Yes, more is awesome... of any level. I re-posted the comment to include "anyone", not just those I listed.
Selfishly, sure, it would be awesome to have someone that runs sub 33 and try to stay with, but having a crew regardless of talent is 90% of the benefit.
Good to meet you this AM.
ReplyDeleteYour 35 on that back side is a lot more impressive than the 33 in dry conditions on the front.
Wow...that is a super impressive time up Ranger, especially considering the conditions. Nice! Sorry to bail for the flat stuff at the last minute....next week.
ReplyDeleteThanks George!
ReplyDeleteSorry for continuting to get your name messed up.
It was great to meet you and run together this morning. I can't say it enough, having friends to share running with is huge!
As far as this morning... I really felt all over the place. My body is doing its best to adjust to this training (feeling flat a lot/today) and my ability to pace a faster mtn ascent is juvenile at this point.
"Synergy" was present having Levi, you and I pushing towards the same goal and with reasonable footing, I wanted to see if I could go under 35.
The first strech had good footing, but like last week, I got excited and pushed too hard too early with Levi. At Green Mtn Lodge, things deteriorated. The snow got a bit "sandy" like, but more of a problem was that I lost confidence and climbing strength. I won't lie, for a few 10-20ft streches just before the 4 way and then after I "power hiked" for the first time on Green Mtn. I hate to admit it.
I felt less spent than I did doing the frotnside last week in 33 low, which might be due to increased fitness, but I know I mentally broke down more this week. I need to learn pace on steep technical climbing and that is why I like this "time trial" Tuesday deal so much.
I was surprised to see 35:49 on the watch (15 and change at Green Mtn Lodge) and moreso, that you guys think it is a better split than the 33:23 front-side split. I know Nick Clark recently ran 35 up Ranger when it was dry (hence my benchmark).
Motivated to improve!
How did you feel today George?
Thanks Aaron! Kill that 5K, get a PR this weekend and we will see you next Tueaday AM at 6:25 (run at 6:30... good call George!).
This Thursday 6:30am at Boulder High Track if you want some speed work George, and all!
Thank you for your insight.
Cheers
I felt a bit heavy this AM but that is probably because I did two loops on Sunday and, well, I am up about 7 lbs from the summer. The snow does not help. No biggie though - it is January, and I am happy to be out there.
ReplyDeleteI will probably skip Thursday as it is a bit close to the Oatmeal 5k for me. I will probably do something on Thursday but I don't want to get wrapped up in a track workout and over do it.
You are posting some pretty quick times on Green in less than ideal conditions. Should be fun to see what you do when this clears out.
And when it is cold like that - don't feel obliged to wait for me!
George,
ReplyDeleteTwo loops will do that!
Good luck at that 5k.
I wasn't on the summmit any long than I wanted, no worries. If I get cold, I'll just jog down a bit to warm up.
See you next week.
See you at the track Thursday AM...but I'll be doing a modified 'easier' set than you to keep my legs mostly fresh for Saturday.
ReplyDeleteCool
ReplyDeleteJust in case anyone else is joining our Speed Session this Thursday AM, we are still meeting at the Boulder High Track at 6:30, warming up, but running on the Boulder Creek Bike Path as there is still ice/snow on the track.
ReplyDelete