A birthday present to myself

For my birthday I went up to mt falcon and got a nice view of the city. This trail  climbs 1700’ in the first 4 miles which took me just over 50 minutes (12:30 pace). After that I did a nice loop on top that isn’t to hard and then ran back down to the car.

A long run above Waterton

The last few weeks my back has but hurting. I did figure out that the problem was how I was sitting to work on my laptop. Since I changed how I sit in the last couple days it’s seemed to hurt less but all over instead of a lot in a single spot. I think it’s getting better.

Today’s Run: 20.4 mile trail run earlier today. My total time was 3:40:19 or about 10:48 per mile. My avg HR was 154 which is a pretty high heat rate to have for almost 4 hrs. On some of the climbs my HR was in the 170’s and I was a little worried I wouldn't have any matches left for my long decent. The first 6 miles was a pretty easy climb. After that the next 6 miles had 3 very mean climbs and then I had long 8.4 miles decent. On this run I saw it all pavement, dirt, sand, mud and snow.

Food on the run review: Every weekend I have been experimenting with a new food. Last week was apple slices which worked so well I took them out on this run (mile 6 & 13). The new food I tried on this run was beef jerky. I ate some at mile 9 and mile 16 and the results were different at those two spots. At mile 9 it was a perfect salty treat that I enjoyed but at mile 16 it didn’t taste as great and I had to force it down and drink a lot get the taste out of my mouth. Functionally it was great both times I felt better and I got some protein in my system. It didn’t cause any stomach problems either.

Post run funny story: This trail is about a 30 min drive from home so I filled up on gas and bought a bottle of chocolate milk for the dive home. I was dehydrated and hungry and it tasted so wonderful that I drank the whole thing in no time. When I got home I went to log my food and discovered that I drank 880 cals of chocolate milk on the drive home.



Here is the profile map of my run and the avg pace for different sections. Worked out to about 2,400 ft of climbing. The last downhill destroyed my quads, 8.4 miles and 1,300 ft of downhill.



Here is the Dam at about mile 6 after this it gets really ugly.


This is a picture of the top of the mountain at about 8 miles, I ended up running both of these trails


On the back side I hit some snowy sections


and a few water crossings

2012 March RMRR 3mi Race Report

3 miles – 19:45, Avg HR 175 

Pre-Race: zero race preparation My friends talked me into doing this race Saturday night, it was only $10 so what the heck. Except earlier on Saturday I had done a hilly 4 mile tempo run at 6:49 pace and my quads felt a little beat up. Also I ate pizza for dinner which I wouldn’t have if I knew I was going to be racing the next day.

Race Day: Windy! The sun was out and it was around 40 degrees which would have been perfect race weather except the wind was blowing like crazy. The wind made it feel much colder so I actually wore my jacket in the race. Since I ran a speed workout yesterday and the wind was wild I decided to lower my goals and have a pressure free race fun race with a goal of running 7:00 minute pace.

Mile 1 - 6:50 Avg HR 165
We ran with the wind at our backs for about ¼ and then the rest of the first mile was into the wind. Even running into the wind I felt really good and was able to run a little faster than my goal pace. I was really surprised that I was running so well on somewhat tired legs in the wind.

Mile 2 - 6:35 Avg HR 178
This race was set up with a handicap system, I started 11:00 after the gun went off. In the second mile I started catching up to big groups of people. Passing people felt good for my confidence and propelled me even faster. This mile had lot of turns so the wind was on and then off the cycling of the wind kind of felt like running hills.

Mile 3 - 6:20 Avg HR 185The last mile just I felt awesome and took off, running negative splits feel great. The last ¼ mile was a long stretch straight into the wind. I felt like I was sprinting but it probably wasn’t faster than 6:00 min pace. This race it was put on by the local running club and I joined the club and signed up for the whole year, 12 races for $35! (not $35 each $35 for all 12 races)



I don’t know what happened today I ran great with really poor race preparation. Maybe it was the fact that I didn’t put any pressure on myself. I think that I would have put in a really awesome time if it wasn’t for that wind. But still I am happy with the time and effort I put in today.