Four Weeks Ending July 1

Week Ending June 10

Mon - AM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls loop.

Tues - Noon: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls loop.
PM: 7 miles track. Workout was 2k open, then 8 x 400 relay with partner (i.e. 70-75 secs stationary rest between intervals). Steady for the 2k, then started pooping out on the 400s towards the end: 6:46 (3:23, 3:23), 75, 73, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 76 w/ an extra 80 tacked on at the end with Sarah for her last rep. 2 mile w-u, 1.5 w-d.

Weds - Noon: 7 miles (1,900') easy. Horsetooth summit via Rock Trail, descent on Audra - Southridge - Rock. 

Thurs - AM: 10.5 miles (1,400') easy with Mike and Sarah on Bluesky. Blah this morning. Super easy.
PM: 7.5 miles easy. Overdressed heat session at Pineridge with the FCTR folks.

Friday - 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls 

Sat - AM: 18 miles (1,800') race. Pilot Hill 25k.
PM: 5 miles (1,500') hiking. Horsetooth summit with Alistair, Stella, Kenny, Amy and their boys.

Sun: Nada. Cancelled planned 20 miler up and down Storm Mountain due to wildfires. Forced evacuation in afternoon.

Total: 70 miles (9,600')

Week Ending June 17

Mon - 4.5 miles easy. On roads to Jax to pick up food.

Tues - AM: 7.5 miles easy w/Sarah on roads and bike path.
PM: 4 miles track. Ran easy with Sarah and Dennis due to smoke and general lack of desire: mile, 4 x 800.

Weds: Off

Thurs: 10 miles (3,000') hills. Horsetooth Mountain Park was off limits due to the fire, so no Towers. Ran Round Mountain (8,250') with Tina instead. Up in a steady and surprisingly easy 52:10. Stopped about 400 meters from the top to watch a black bear forage under rocks for food. Totally disinterested/unaware of me. Easy down the first two miles with Tina, then took off.

Fri: 7 miles (1,800') easy. Snuck into Horseooth for a quick summit. Bull snake on Soderberg on the way up. Watched the firefighting effort up Redstone for a bit before getting zapped by surplus electricity in the air from an electric storm 10-15 miles off to the west. Scared the bejesus out of me. Zapped three times before I could get off the summit. Scurried down and fine once off the rock. 

Sat - AM: 7.5 miles (2,400') hills. Hiked up Twin Sisters (11,420') for Alistair's first legitimate trek above timberline. Up in a relatively zippy (for a five year old) 1:45, then down much easier as the mileage started to take its toll on the boy. Still, very little complaining just some old fashioned dragging. Above timberline we cut straight for the summit and had fun talus hoping together.

PM: 3 miles (600') easy. Quick bench loop. 

Sun - 8 miles easy (900') in the desert outside of West Wendover, NV. Leppy Hills Trail. HOT. 

Total: 51.5 miles (8,700')

Week Ending June 24

Mon - 4 miles (600') easy. Roads around Alpine Meadows (CA).

Tues - 4.5 miles. Bike paths from Squaw Valley. 

Weds - 5.5 miles (800') easy. Up the Five Lakes Trail. 

Thurs - 4 miles (500') easy with Timmy, Jorge and Connor around Alpine Meadows. 

Fri - 4 miles easy on bike path from Squaw Valley with Jake.

Sat - 100 miles (17,000'). Western States.

Sun - OFF.  Ultra drive back home. 

Total: 122 miles (18,900')

Week Ending July 1

Mon - OFF

Tues - OFF

Weds - OFF

Thurs - OFF

Fri - OFF

Saturday - 7 miles (1,800'). Horsetooth summit with Burch and Stefanovic. Some gimp behind the right knee and in the right hip, but otherwise decent. Moderately sore quads on the descent. Went super easy.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
January: 330 miles (45,200')
February: 445 miles (58,500')
March: 501.5 (79,600')
April: 430 (66,800')
May: 387.5 (70,700')
June: 297.5 (48,500') 

Total: 2,391.5 miles (369,300')
Avg: 398.5 miles (61,550')
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2012 Summits (81): 
Horsetooth (7,255') (38)
Mount Elbert (14,443')
Longs Peak (14,259')
Whitney Peak (13,271')
Twin Sisters (11,420')
Lookout Mountain (10,626')

Storm Mountain (9,918')
Lily Mountain (9,786')
Crosier Mountain (9,250') (4)
Pilot Hill (8,829')
Mount Ethel (8,471')
8,415' (Leila Peak)
Buckhorn Mountain (8,341')
Round Mountain (8,250') (2)
Spruce Mountain (7,781')
Sullivan Stump (7,778')
7,725'
Green Ridge (7,402')
Green Mountain (7,335')
7,260' (Ziggy Point)
7,178'
7,098' (Poll Mtn range)
Table Mountain (7,074')
Arthurs (6,780') (5)
Palisade (8,225')
Milner (6,893')
Alexander (8,144')
5,773' or 'Aggie Peak'
5,740' (1)
5,740' (2)
Reservoir Ridge (5,735')
Goat Hill (5,604')
Aitxuri (1,551 meters) 
Aizkorri (1,528 meters)
Aratz (1,443 meters)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------   

Sunday - 14 miles (1,400') easy. Bluesky with Slush, Sarah and Celeste. Legs were okay for the first eight, and then kind of sore and disinterested.

Total: 21 miles (3,200')

Catching up here with the training data for the three weeks before and one week after Western States. As usual, I went with a three-week taper and for the most part think I was well rested going into the race. With the fires, evacuation and other sundry stresses, things weren't quite as relaxed as I would have liked them to be, but with all the distractions I didn't waste a whole lot of mental energy worrying about the race in the lead up. In fact I was very relaxed and somewhat nonchalant about the whole deal, which for me is not the best place to be. I like to be slightly nervous before a big race to help focus the mind, but whatever, it seemed to work out decently in the end.

Had a super easy, but very busy week immediately after the race, but am now back in the regular swing of things. The running these last couple of days has been okay, but I have some good soreness left in the quads it would seem. That should be done with by the end of the week and I'll start getting back after it in preparation for Speedgoat and Leadville.

The fire here in Fort Collins ended up burning on over 87,000 acres, which is a huge swath of land, but thankfully it is now 100% contained. That is to say they have a full perimeter on it, but not that it is fully out. That will require some significant moisture from the heavens, something we have been sorely lacking unfortunately.

On a positive trail running note, the trails of Horsetooth and Lory were very minimally impacted by the fire, which means the Quad Rock course will remain exactly the same for next year. We have set a tentative date of May 11 (permits pending), so get that in your calendars if you're thinking about coming out. The Bluesky trail also has not been impacted by the fires, so the fifth annual Bluesky Marathon (Oct 7) will go ahead as normal this year.