Mon - Noon: 9 miles (1,900') fartlek. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long. Felt good, so pushed hard from Herrington.
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January: 440.5 miles (45,850')
February: 304.5 miles (39,200')
March: 469.5 miles (67,100')
April: 427 (62,000')
May: 509.5 (92,500')
June: 323 (54,900')
July: 303.5 (79,700)
August: 297.5 (70,000')
September: 202 (37,500')
October: 373.5 (68,150')
Total: 3,650.5 miles (617,000')
Avg: 365 miles (61,700')
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Tues - Noon: 5 miles (1,100') easy. Falls long.
PM: 9 miles track. Met Eric, Sam and Kyle at the track feeling like I really didn't want to be there. Plan had been to do 2x3 or 2x4 mile @ 5:40, but that all sounded highly unappetizing. The others really didn't care what we did, so we compromised on the workout with a 1 x 2 x 1 at no particular effort w/400 jog between reps: 5:27, 10:56 (5:30, 5:26), 5:27. Really need to start pushing the envelope a bit on these.
Weds - PM: 5 miles (1,100') easy. Falls long after another big, wet snow dump.
Thurs - AM: 10.5 miles (1,400') hills steady. Out easy (40:22) w/ Slush, Eric, Sam, and Sarah, and then back pretty much solo without really pushing anything (33:58). Considered pacing with Sam at a faster clip, but decided to let him go and save things for Saturday (7:55, 7:03, 6:30, 6:31, 5:55).
PM: 7 miles (1,700') easy. Up (39:40) and down Towers with the group. Conversational both ways. Sloppy at the bottom, trudgy at the top, icy in between.
Friday - 0 miles. Had to work on a rental all day, which a tenant had kindly left in an ungodly state. Didn't even come close to finding time for a run, but made awesome progress on the house. I'll take the trade, plus I'm racing tomorrow, so the down day should be beneficial.
Sat - 19 miles with 13.1 race sandwiched between w-u, c-d. Opened with a 5:38 mile and then kind of faded from there. The mile markers on course were all over the place, so I never really got a sense of where I was on my pacing, but the effort seemed reasonably steady. However, I didn't have any real desire to work too hard once I started getting tired around mile 8/9, which tells me I'm a bit burned out on the racing right now. From the best I could make out, I slipped into the 5:50 range from about half way and stayed there through to the finish for a disappointing 1:17:low
Sun - 12.5 miles (3,100') super easy with Eric and Ryan. Rock Trail to the summit, then Westridge - Mill Creek - Loggers - Sawmill - Stout - Spring Creek - Falls. Felt pretty tired after yesterday's road effort, and found myself on the deck twice. Clumsy.
Total: 77 miles (10,300')
After a really lackluster effort at racing the half marathon distance on Saturday and generally feeling highly unmotivated at the prospect of traveling out to California in December to race myself into the ground, I've decided that I'm going to enjoy Bryon's iRunFar coverage of the TNF 50 miler from the sidelines here in Colorado. However, I am excited about other things.
We had another solid turnout at the Tortoise and Hare race on Sunday, the second in the series, with abilities across a broad spectrum, and enthusiasm for the sport at a general level of stoke. In addition, we had close to 20 runners on the Big Hill Thursday night, despite cold weather and nasty conditions underfoot. I've given up tracking those results on the blog, but we will soon have them up on the Fort Collins Trail Runners website (currently under construction), and that will be the new locale for all things FCTR.
In other news, Pete and I have permit applications in with the state and county for a 25/50 mile race that we hope to host on the trails of Lory State Park and Horsetooth Mountain Park (aka, my backyard) in May. We had a very positive conversation with the manager of Lory early last week and are already on good terms with the county, so I feel confident in making this little pre-announcement.
We are going to use a 25-mile loop of the two parks for a total of 5,500 feet of elevation gain on 90% singletrack terrain. For the full 50 miler, runners will do the second lap in reverse and climb a touch over 11,000 feet once it is all said and done. I'm guessing that anything under 7:30 in the men's race will be pretty stout.
I won't go into too much more detail about what we have planned, but will say that we hope to make this a true celebration of the sport and Front Range trail running in general, rather than an event that people come to in order to score an early season assisted long run. We plan to be online with a website in two weeks (permits pending), and be opening registration in early December for the May 12 race day.
But, before all that happens, I've got to defend my title at the Vertical Beer Mile - perhaps the most important date on my racing calendar. Yes, the race is still over a month away, but believe me the training is well advanced.
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Stoked to hear about the 25/50 ... could be an alternative to the CP run. But I am trying to figure out what you mean by this ... we hope to make this a true celebration of the sport and Front Range trail running in general, rather than an event that people come to in order to score an early season assisted long run.
ReplyDeleteGZ - a lot of runners use the local early season races as training runs for summer events: show up, run, go home.
ReplyDeleteI've always been a fan of the 'after party' aspect of racing, especially at ulras, so wanted to make sure we focus considerable efforts on giving people a reason to stick around and chew the fat post-race. Think brews, live music, BBQ, kid's race, fun awards, etc.
Of course, we intend to offer a great race experience too, which means an uber-well-marked course, great aid stations with good crew access, and killer terrain on classic Front Range trails. The course plus the party will combine to make the event a celebration of Front Range trail running.
Excellent. Count me in as a participant (assuming the family schedule lines up). I really like UBER WELL MARKED as my last 50 ended up with me off course.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you won't be making a go at the NF50. That said, totally respect that.
I fully expect your race to be an awesome one Nick and I will be there if I can find out how to train with a newborn...
ReplyDeleteBut why no stoke for the Trudge? Additional stoke I know, I know...see you at the Trudge if you're there. If not, you can find my DNF when you browse race results!
Great news Nick, hope everything comes through. That almost assuredly makes my early season schedule easier. Focus is all local.
ReplyDeleteCollegiate Peaks, Greenland 50k, FoCo 50, Jemez, San Juan Solstice. If I get into Hardrock I can stay lazy until April and then cram all my training into two months.
ReplyDeleteAnd if yunz guys want some good beer, I can bring some up from the Springs.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about NF, was hoping to see you go out there and end the year on a high note. They must have passed your entry on to me, since I just apparently got in off the wait list...
ReplyDeleteHope the 25/50 works out. Would be nice to have a good 50 miler on the front range. A post race party with plenty of brew+food is always good too!
Your fans are disappointed on TNF50 but hey we know the priority goes to defending the VBM crown. So a 1:17 half on a bad day? Find the right course and motivation and 2:2X should be on the horizon. Count me in for whatever support you need for the FoCo 25/50 if the permits come through.
ReplyDeletenick- will definitely miss ya on the starting line and the camaraderie and competitive spirit you bring to the table, but totally respect your decision. any luck in finding a road marathon for 2012? interested to hear your overall plans for 2012. hope all works out for the FoCo 25/50. and couldn't help but notice that the Hardrock Applicant list is shaping up nicely. just saw that Tim Olson put his name in too. gettin' psyched for lottery season.
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. I generally do the blog over at best iphone 4 apps, but today i put down the game apps and turned off the computer. I went outside and ran over a mile. Which doesn't sound like much but it was for my heavy self. Your blog inspired me. Thank you for that!!
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