Tues - 6 miles (500') easy. Bumped into Don and his friend Craig at Soderberg and ran easy with them to Arthur's Rock TH and back.
Weds - 6 miles (500') easy. Valley trails.
Thurs - 12 miles. Thanksgiving Day 4 Miler. Warmed up with four, raced four @ 5:27 pace, and cooled down with four more.
Fri - 10.5 miles (3,000') easy. Late afternoon cruise on a glorious fall day. Horsetooth north summit - Westridge - Spring Creek - Wathen - Horsetooth trail - home. A bit sore in the calves from Thursday.
Sat - 21.5 miles (5,500'). 3:55. Ran the junior varsity version of the Chubby Cheeks course with Sam and Nick P. Dragged for the most part, but got around. Still a bit sore from the Turkey Trot it would seem. Southridge - Audra Culver - Horsetooth north summit - Horsetooth trail - Soderberg - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Mill Creek - Valley - Sawmill - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Westridge - Wathen - Spring Creek - Falls - home.
Elevation profile & topo map for Chubby Cheeks Short Course (21.5 miles, 5,500')
Sun - 15.5 miles (3,800'). 2:28. Out with Jason on the early stretches of Chubby. Certainly wasn't feeling much like another mountain run after a couple of bigger vert days Friday and Saturday, but ended up pushing out an up-tempo run after a quick initial ascent of Horsetooth. Felt surprisingly good. Yet another beautiful morning and the rut is on. Some decidedly horny bucks out there right now.
Total: 76 miles (14,200').
Despite the slight cutback in mileage from the first half of the week, I felt pretty lackadaisical and a touch sore after the Turkey 4 mile on Thursday. Having already lined up a couple of runs at Horsetooth with others for the weekend, I decided to just push through. The Saturday run was enjoyable for the company, but pretty much a drag as far as the running was concerned. Got after it a bit on the climbs today with Jason and ended the run feeling way better than Saturday.
Determined to get on some pavement next week. A fast 20 on the bike paths lined up for Sunday, a session at the track on Tuesday and Towers TT on Thursday.
Dropped 370 smackers on one race entry last night. Ouch. Looking at the start list for States, (pre-lottery) it looks like nine of the top 10 from this year are scheduled to toe the line in 2011 (Zach Miller being the exception). Some other speedy types also look to be on board from qualifying races with the lottery still to come. Should be another deep field. Hoping to piggy back my marathon training by running American River in April.
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Newbie tech question: what gadget collected the data you used on sportstraks?
ReplyDeleteGood stuff on the Turkey trot. You almost beat Killian in a 100er and then beat Mr. Mock on the road?
Cheers!
Man, I wasn't sore at all after the T-Day race!
ReplyDeleteMatt - the data comes from a Garmin 405 (I think) watch that my buddy Nick was wearing. Accumulated Vert reading is from my Highgear Altera.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yeah, with the beat-down of the 2:29 guy I should at least be in 2:25 shape ... or at least I think that's how it works.
Justin - no comment.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the map and vert data are from the 405.
ReplyDeleteNo love for 4th place, eh?
ReplyDeleteSince you are putting plans up for next year, I am interested if you will take a similar approach this year to WS ... meaning a general depth of mileage (or kilometerage) through the spring to prep for WS.
And just the up or the RT for you at Pikes?
A guaranteed entry - that's about it.
ReplyDeleteI put the marathon on the calendar in Feb for the specific reason of doing something different in training this year than last year. The basic idea is to build a bit of speed through the winter before launching into a similar three-month phase to last year, which was essentially to run as much vert and mileage as reasonably possible. But it's all part of the four-year plan that has me peaking at 40, ready to rock out the masters scene ;)
Pretty certain I'll be doing the up only at Pikes, given its proximity to UTMB, which I'm also planning on running.
Nick,
ReplyDeletedo you complement running with other activities like strength training, bike...any advise on strength training for running?
Girona, Spain.
Do u have a crew allready for UTMB?
ReplyDeleteGirona, Spain.
Girona (maybe you know Giordi (from Girona) who was at Pikes Peak this summer?) - I plan to do some snowshoe running this winter, but essentially I do no strength training other than running a lot of hills. I have a limited amount of time to devote to running, so typically figure that I get the best bang for my buck by just running.
ReplyDeleteOn UTMB, I am hoping that my parents will make it across from the UK to help out, but haven't really started planning for it yet. I don't even know for sure if I have a spot in the race yet.
Count me in for some Alpine crewing too. We're heading that way on 23rd Dec in search of snow (although we're not short of it in the UK right now!)
ReplyDeleteSo what's the goal for NO - 2:2*?
Let's try to organise a family holiday around UTMB. When will you know for sure that you have a place? More snow than we know what to do with in Kent. Love - RC
ReplyDeleteMatt - 2:2* is the dream scenario, but highly unlikely. I'll be happy with anything under 2:35. Sounds like you've got more snow than us right now - nothing but a few scrapes of ice here. Have fun in the mountains.
ReplyDeleteDad - I think they do the drawing in December for the UTMB lottery, but from what I understand there are also up to 50 competitive entries set aside, so I'm looking into that too. I'm 90% certain that it's a go, but will know for sure in a month or so.