Friday

I am definitely feeling better today.  I can tell because I woke up early on my own before the alarm.  Overall even with being sort of sick it has been a good week.  Riding on the track stand again, getting some small runs in and doing some short weight workouts all have me feeling like I am going in the right direction again.

Yesterday evening I rode the bike to Manitou so that I could go and do the Incline.  I tried to keep my heart rate between 130 and 140 BPM.  More importantly I was tying to find out what that range actually felt like relative to the level of effort pedaling.  Anyway the ride to Manitou was fun even if it was a touch chilly.

The incline was okay.  The full moon made the trip more interesting but I had to stand on the brakes a bit to prevent myself from overtaxing my lungs.  Made it to the top in 42 minutes which I feel is about right all things considered.

The run down Barr Trail was awesome and for the first time in a long time I felt like I was actually having a good run which was a treat.  About a mile and half from the depot I ran into a older guy going down the trail in the dark who was completely without a light.  Even with the moon the trail was not that illuminated and I could tell as I pulled up beside him that he was not having fun.  I gave him my backup handheld led light from my pack to use.  He asked how he could get it back to me and I told him that I would be at Kinfolks for a bit and that he could stop in and drop it off.

Of course I am a cynic and I don't have much faith in humans typically so I didn't really count on seeing my light again and if I didn't no big deal.  But I'll be damned if he didn't eventually show up and return the light to me.  Pretty cool!

Annie texted me the coolest saying last night.  I am not sure of the original source but she sent, "Don't let anyone tell you that you are too young to accomplish anything, a baby shark is still a fucking shark."

That text really made me smile!

Tomorrow is December first.  Leadman training offically starts, finally!

Tuesday (No Track)

No track today.  That is as first since the Tuesday after Leadville.  I did the Red Mountain run last night and my lungs protested violently... all night... until I dosed up on NyQuil and then I slept like the DEAD.

No running today at all.  I am going to wait until I don't feel that whatever it is in my chest and I stop coughing.  I don't want a repeat of last spring where I had this crud for a month or so.  I was still productive this evening though.  I did ride the bike on the track stand and I did do a weight workout which required me to re-baseline all of my weight bars, etc.  It felt good to do something.

More Paleo research today and I have decided that I want to wait until Monday to start it.  This way I have the weekend to splurge and Monday is typically the start of a training week and will also be the start of my Leadman training officially so might as well kick it all off at once.

To be honest I am actually excited.  I am curious to see how my weight changes in December.  I always try to lose weight and gain fitness most years between Thanksgiving and New Year's so that will be part of my focus in December.  They say the average American gains like 5 lbs every holiday seaoson, year after year, that they really don't lose... I am always wanting to buck that trend.

Speaking of weight and Americans... I saw this video yesterday.  Hear that sound?  That is the sound of the bar lowering even more folks.   They state that Americans are actually more accepting now, blah, blah, blah... no I just think that we are more lazy and have just given up more.  Anyway you can see the story here on ABC News.

But then again, life is full of trade-offs!

Where you be at?

Just thought that I would check in just in case anyone was missing me or wondering where I was.  I'd hate to keep the four people who read my blog in suspense.

Went to MD last week for Thanksgiving and all I can say is that I was physically a wreck by the time we got  there.  Completely and thoroughly exhausted.   As if that wasn't bad enough I didn't get much sleep at all the first seventy two hours that we were there either.  The schedule just did not allow for it.  The upside is that I felt a hell of a lot better and rested by the end of the week.

So... the Turkey Trot... yeah that... well, I had a total blow up.  I got a new mile PR for the first mile but that was it.  Between being so damned tired and my "system" just not processing things correctly for a few days and allergy drainage, I started coughing about mile 1.4 and then started to purge a little.  Again, an upside... I recovered and fell in behind Melissa without her knowing I was there for the last half of the 5K and just followed (or stalked) her to the finish.  It really was cool to run behind her as SHE at least got a new PR.  I kept my mouth shut so she would not know that I was back there and figured if I had to say something I would.... nope... she ran it perfect and had a super strong finish.

We saw Skyfall when we were in MD and it was okay.  I think that Casino Royal is still my favorite Danial Craig, Bond movie... But this was good.  I do like the fact that they showed an aging and slightly more human and mortal Bond for a change.

We are fostering a new dog, Reggie.  He is a trip.  Completely underweight and he is at 70lbs.  He is 2.5 years old and just as mellow as he can be.  He and Roxy are hitting it off okay, Asia is being a pretentious brat though.  Reggie has glommed onto me though and will not let me out of his sight.  I wanted to rename him to Peter for Peter Pumpkinhead because his gourd is so damned huge.  This morning I awoke to him perching his head on the bed and just staring at me.  He needs some work... I don't  think he was abused at all but definitely neglected as there are some basic skills he needs work on.  But as far as potential is concerned if someone has a strong personality and the time to work with him and nurture him I bet he would be one super awesome sweet dog.  It will be interesting to see what he ends up weighing in a week after sleeping a lot, exercise and a lot of good food and treats.

This is Reggie.  If anyone is interested in him please let me know and or contact All Breed Rescue and Training.

Reggie and I did go to the IC run yesterday but we did something different.  I could see everyone trudging up hill one on UPT and I was damned glad that I was not in that group.  I really don't like that trail and that hill in particular, up or down.

Definitely planning on transitioning to a more Paleo based diet next week.  I have done a lot of research and except for the "processed" part... I think that the Paleo diet and Atkins maintenance phases are very similar.  My weight fucking skyrocketed when we were in MD and that was before the race even AND that was after really not eating a whole lot.  Actually I was good in MD but my weight balooned anyway... If I am to take this Leadman effort seriously I do feel that I need to give it all that I have and truly cleaning up my diet for good is warranted I think.

Speaking of Leadman... Tim and I meet (teleconference) on Thursday and I guess that we launch on the first... personally right now I feel as if I am completely detrained and out of shape so I am looking forward to working again.   I think that if I have proven or learned anything this fall it is that I am not one of those runners who can maintain fitness and strength with just a few short but intense workouts per week... I think I need that base of high mileage and that is what works best overall for both speed and endurance.  I could be wrong but that is how it feels. 

That kinda sums it all up.  Happy Monday!

A Star is Born

Asia's TV debut... complete with Lauren from All Breed Rescue and Training, Melissa, Roxy and myself.  :)  She knew how to smile big for the camera!

Thursday Track

Well this was my last Thursday night at the track in Manitou for a bit.  Between the deer on the track and all of the afternoon/evening activities at the school, that place can get pretty damned crowded at times.  Hopefully by the time I start hitting a track again CC will have theirs completed.... Maybe.

A little bit different of a program than my past Thursday nights.  One mile warmup, 10x200m with 200m RBI then a one mile cool down.  39, 39, 39, 38, 41, 39, 40, 38, 40, 39.

Looking forward to having tomorrow night off.

The word of the day... Shisno... brought to you by Red vs Blue!

Seven More Days!

Just a week left until my 5K in Maryland.  I have to say that I truly feel like a jackass when I tell people that I am actually training for a 5K.  The usual response is shock, then the inevitable question regarding if you can run 100 miles, why are you training for 5K?  It confuses a lot of people... hell it even confuses me some but be that as it may, in a week it is over with.

Yesterday I finalized my training plans for between now and the race.  Last night was a fast 5 mile run which will have to explain.  Today, Thursday will be track and I am going to do 200's for something different.  Friday, rest.  Saturday a 5K time trial here in Colorado.  Sunday, a 30 minute tempo run.  Monday, 2 miles.  Tuesday is a travel day so no running and Wednesday will be a day off as well.  Thursday race... I plan to do some warm up running before the 5K and I know they guy who I am going to try to stick with during the race as part of my strategy so really, now, the stage is set.  As of right now the weather forecast for next Thursday is looking good there too. 

Prediction... I will go under 20... under 19?  I don't know.  If I can get under 18:49 I will be ecstatic.

Last night I ran from the COG up to the top of the Ws' in 30:32.  I think that is a PR for me.  Again, a sign things are looking good for next week.

The Fall Series is finally over thank god.  FSIV went okay for me... I was consistent I think with the rest of my other runs in the series... held my own but still slower than last year.  I am hoping that does not signify anything for next week's race.  I sort of held back on Sunday not knowing what the course was going to do, always anticipating at least two additional climbs and just being safe on the rocky trail.  The biggest thing that I learned this year doing the Fall Series is that I am an idiot.  Later on Sunday I was thinking that there was no way I would run the series again next year and I was going to tell the whole world that then I realized it would be a lie... I'm an idiot and in August it will all sound fun and like a good idea all over again and I will be more than happy to lay my money down for the registration... idiot.  This year's series also did nothing to boost my self-confidence... I was 15th in my age-group for the series and if I were in the bracket above or below me, I would have been in the top 10.... weird, huh?

Baffled on how we are nine days post-election and the bullshit still endures...  I did not vote for Romney but I am starting to feel sorry for him.  Seems like the grand old party is throwing him under the bus for losing the election as he did not prove to represent the party as a viable candidate.  Personally I tend to see if the other way around... the party, the beliefs, the crazies, etc... all of that came to represent Romney...  Seriously... at this point if you are still bitching about the election, finger-pointing, etc, you have to be more a part of the overall problem than than contributing to any solution.  Remember, you are an American before belonging to any party.  I am truly amazed by all of the conspiracy postings about the elections from peeps that I generally consider to possess an above average intelligence.  More craziness...

Speaking of intelligence... This reminds me of the whole Petraeus situation.  He should have remembered the number one rule on information security.  "Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead." Benjamin Franklin.

Tuesday Track

Headed to the track earlier this afternoon than usual so I could get in at least a couple of laps in the daylight.  There were Deer everywhere.  The surprising part was there were two huge bucks but they were still in velvet.  Seems a little late for that.

Anyway, I think that things are solidifying in regards to my times on my 800's.  Regardless this is a good as it will get as my race is nine days away.  I will do one more track workout on Thursday and I think that I will do 200's that night for something different than the dreaded 400's.

Standard Tuesday night workout for me... One mile warm up, 6 x 800m with 200m RBI and then a one mile cool down. 3:11, 3:10, 3:13, 3:13, 3:14, 3:08.  I really pushed on that last one and it only felt like I sort of eased up maybe a touch on the last turn but then I really tried to accelerate through the straightaway.

Explains a lot, no?

Staying out of trouble... at least trying.

Fall Series IV is tomorrow so I am just laying low and staying out of mischief today.  No running today either.  I did five miles at lunchtime yesterday and it was just miserable.  I don't know if I was just having a bad day or if it was residual from the track workout on Thursday night.  Could have just been the week catching up with me as I was super tired yesterday evening.  Who knows... I am just taking today off.

I went to Manitou this morning though to watch the beginning of the Incline Beer Mile, #2.  The weather was beautiful and sunny at the start but after everyone had taken off and I was getting ready to leave the clouds, wind and rain blew in. 

Toying with the idea of hopping on the track stand and riding today but I am not even going to do that.  I want to run tomorrow's race in Palmer Park as fresh and as rested as I can possibly be.  I have yet to have a FS race that I am truly happy with this season so I am hoping maybe tomorrow will go well and in case it doesn't, well that is why I am just hanging out today... I don't want to do anything to screw it up like LAST year.  Of course I will never eat another McRib as long as I live, ever.

Asia is healing up quickly and is sort of back to her old self.  I put the fencing around her kennel earlier so she now has room to get out and move around but stay out of trouble herself.

I know it sucks for her but we have to get that knee to heal.  

Thursday Track - That Was Rough

One hell of a day.  It began with dropping Asia off at 7:30 for surgery, a 9:00 dentist appointment, work, getting Asia, paying for that and then getting her home and settled.

Fortunately I was able to take a quick nap between the time that Melissa came home and before she left.  I had not realized just how tired I was but I was out as soon as I was flat on the bed.... You know when you are so tired that when you close your eyes you almost immediately start dreaming?  Yeah I was that tired.

But after my nap and after Melissa left and after making sure that Asia was alright and settled into her crate I headed off to the track.  Slightly breezy as usual in Manitou but it was nice and warm.

I had a hard time deciding what I would do tonight but eventually decided to stick the 400's routine... One mile warmup, 10x400m with 200m RBI then a one mile cool down. 88, 85, 88, 87, 90, 89, 89, 89, 89, 93.  I just could not hang on for that last one.  I felt it drifting but could not increase the speed at all.  They can't all be winners, ya know?

On a good note... I am a flossing fiend and that has definitely cut back on the time sitting in the chair at the dentist's office every six months.  I can usually be in and out with my checkup and cleaning in about an hour, maybe slightly less.  This past spring I started using the Sonicare toothbrush and coincidence or not, I was out of the office this morning probably 10-15 minutes faster than usual.  So if anyone is thinking of getting one I highly recommend it!

Too weird... but funny.

What if it went the other way?

It is the day after.  Finally.  Mitt Romney finally conceded last night and the election is over.  Reading some of the social media postings this morning, some are happy, others are not.  The postings of the despondent all resonate the same... the end is near, stock up on weapons and ammo now, and some are even blaming god or praying to god for help.  Well here is the deal... All of the same rhetoric almost verbatim was launched four years ago after the election and did anything dire happen then?  No.  We are all still here.  Just as we would be if the Republicans won the White House.  Life would continue to go on.

I have learned a lot this election both as a Republican AND an American.  I have learned a lot about myself as a result.

But as a Republican I have to say that the party failed and failed miserably to put forth a viable candidate.  Mitt Romney at least to me was completely unrelateable.  I never felt the connection.  Even months ago if I were working or downstairs and had the TV on and if he would be on a show, or begin to speak I would automatically mute it.  His voice, opinions and ideals always made me shut down.

My buddy William who I would say is a solid liberal yet reasonable and fair often just said that he didn't trust Romney.  But the one thing that William said over and over to me is that Mitt Romney has never said really, "why" he wants to be president.  I think he was right.

This point may seem sort of abstract and random but give a second and I will tie it all together....  So last night Melissa and I are sitting and watching the results come in and she informs me that Mitt Romney originally didn't want to run for president, that it was actually his wife who pushed him in that direction.  Well that sort of clicked and made some sense but I had yet to connect the dots until later, after Romney's concession speech.

When Mitt Romney and his family were leaving the stage after the concession speech, I saw two things... Romney with a relieved and almost relaxed look on his face ( a first) and his wife, who was obviously upset and in turn looked like SHE was the one who lost.

So this is my thought... Putting the three points together, I don't think that Mitt Romney really truly wanted to be President.  He was pushed in that direction but I don't think that his heart was in it and I don't believe he was truly passionate about winning.  And that is why I think that I never felt any affinity towards him as a candidate.  Let me reiterate... PURE SPECULATION on my part....

The other thing I learned was this... when they were showing the crowds in Boston waiting for Romney to come out and speak, I noticed that seriously... there was not one single non-white, everyday looking person in that crowd.  Seriously.... And I couldn't help that when I saw that but to think, "that isn't  America."

Then they showed the crowds in Chicago... I think that was more realistic and if I were given the choice of  a place to be last night between the two, I would have definitely chosen Chicago.

Of course all of my observations could be way off base.  I am not a political analyst, not by a long shot.

It is over... the market is adjusting and I am sure that will be blamed on the current administration as well.   But as one trader said, "If you didn't think that President Obama had a better than average chance of winning then you shouldn't be handling anyone's money anyway."

Tuesday Track - WooHoo!

Great workout tonight at the track.... The first three went very well then I fought like hell to hang on the last three 800's and pulled it off.

One mile warm up, 6 x 800m with 200m RBI and then a one mile cool down. 3:13, 3:11, 3:14, 3:13, 3:15, 3:12.  All 3:15 or faster which is a first.

Last night I conducted the great heart rate monitor experiment in my sleep.  I learned that sleeping my heart rate can go as low as 43 beats per minutes.  Pretty cool I guess.  My average for the night was 50 bpm.

I still have not seen the results for the Canya Canyon 6K yet... I know that  I have a  new PR by about five and half minutes but I don't know the exact numbers as my Garmin software crapped itself when I was downloading that data.

Fall Series IV this weekend then one more week of track work after that before my race in MD.  After today's workout I think it will be close there rather or not I get a PR or not but I know that I am definitely moving in the right direction.  When I started doing 800m, repeats on Sept 11, my times were as follows... 3:11, 3:23,3:22,3:21,3:25,3:18, and that was with a 400m RBI.  So the numbers are definitely improving!

Ready for the election to be over.  And in the spirit of the campaign I will leave you with this...

Honey I Blew Up the Blog

Holy crap!  My blog has never had so many hits as it did yesterday which tells me that people are WAY more interested in other stuff than my running numbers, misadventures and whatnot.  I guess that is a good thing.

Ran Red Mountain last night.  It was fun.  My legs were mostly recovered from the weekend.  It was really cold starting out but the temps on top were a lot more comfortable.  It was definitely colder down in Manitou when we finished.

I did register for Leadman Sunday night/Monday morning. I am excited and it is sort of nice to know what my race schedule is next summer. 

Track tonight... It's Tuesday!

Will it really be over tomorrow?

Finally tomorrow is election day and I can not wait.  I have been holding my breath for weeks now it seems waiting for it.  I am excited to vote as usual and I am interested in seeing the results but more than that I just hope that it ends and this country returns to some sense of sanity and quickly.

I have been a life-long Republican.  A child of Reagan if you will.  I was raised on the ideals of blood and guts and it being my duty to defend this country to my last.  I will say that never before in my life have I been more ashamed of the party as I am now and ashamed of America in turn.

But it is on both sides, this extreme polarization, it is crazy! There is no common sense anymore.  There is no middle ground.  Either you are a gun toting, right to life, gay-hating, racist, angry, god-worshiping white person, or you are a dirty, lazy, dependent on handouts, family-value-erroding, way-too-tolerant, PBS watching, baby-killing/pro-choice pussy.

I hope that once this election is over that everyone can just drop it and get on with the healing of this nation as Americans and not an us vs. them kind of deal anymore.  And when I say us vs. them, it is in the context of, "I have seen the enemy and it is us."

I was never a fan of the current administration but I support it.  Personally I think that if given a chance for a second term that President Obama could possibly go down as one of the greatest presidents of all times after Ronald Reagan of course.  Is the executive branch infallable?  No.  But I do appreciate having a president that I can trust, is not just the mouth piece for corporations and other backers, does not sully our lives with tales of stained blue dresses and who just seems human.  The president has not invaded countries looking for WMD's that just seem to disappear nor does he sit idly when we can strike and have a tactical or strategic advantage against those who would do us harm.

Not to mention the fact that President Obama has publicly denounced the Kardashian's and refuses to allow them to air on his family TV.   That deserves my vote!

What I fear... tomorrow will not be the end.  Due to issues in Florida (cause they can't ever get an election right) issues with mail in ballots and problems with people impacted by Sandy to get to the polls it may take weeks or months for the election to finally sort itself out.  What can happen in those months especially with all of the frustration, anger and malicious attitudes between everyday Americans now?  This country needs to begin healing and it needs to begin it yesterday.

I will say that the one saving grace to the 2012 election may just be this... given the attitudes, political climate and just general behavior and downward trend of this country's standards, morals and ethics as a whole, unless things change and change quickly this could very well be our last non-violent, bloodless election in history.

As I told Melissa yesterday and I believe this to be true and part of the problem of this nation is that it way to easy for people to just believe in things than to think for themselves and use reason and to form their own thoughts and opinions. Extremism in either direction has always scared the hell out of me and anymore that fear is more and more present in my life.

Just one more day... I hope.

My fate is sealed... better start training!

Now things get real around here... Eight months until the first race.   Heck yeah!

Dear Andy Wooten,

This email confirms your registration for the Leadman/Leadwoman, submitted on Nov 5, 2012 at 12:15:38AM MST. 

Thursday Track

Had a good day today... King Chef for lunch but more of that later...

Since it worked out so well last week I decided to do 400's again tonight.  One mile warmup, 10x400m with 200m RBI then a one mile cool down.  87, 83, 86, 88, 89, 87, 90, 88, 89, 87.   Not too bad really.  I felt the past two days tonight for certain but really conditions could not have been better tonight.  The breeze did kick up some and that was the 400m where I hit the 90.

Anyway.... back to Kings Chef... it made a second appearance on my first cool down lap after the 400's were done... guess I am  back to racing weight now!

Started watching Red vs. Blue on the Kindle the other night and it is just hilarious.  Maybe you have to be a geek to get it, I don't know.  Here is the first "episode" and a warning, there is coarse language.

And there goes October.

Wow... I flipped the calendar over today and was greeted by the most beautiful pitbull puppy ever... well after Asia of course.  It is now November. Holy Crap.

For those who like to constantly ride my ass about running too much and not taking any time off please allow me to submit October's humble numbers.  I ran 148 miles and I biked, 92.  That's it!  And to be clear, I don't expect the numbers to rise much higher for November.

After that, I have no clue as to what circle of hell regarding training volume and intensity I will be in but I am sure it will epic.

Yesterday, Wednesday, I ran up N. Cheyenne Canyon during the day as I took half the day off.  It was nice to do that run again and not have to worry about it getting dark and it was really warm out.  I tried to run it rather conservative but push a little at the same time.  4.12 miles from the bottom to the top of the Columbine Trail and my splits per mile were 11:41, 15:23, 11:25 and 11:57.  Note: The second mile has the most ridiculous elevation gain of all of the miles (600 feet) and the last mile is actually 1.12 miles or so...  Anyway, I ran it just three minutes slower than my race time two years ago and that was just a day after a tough track workout.  I expect that I will do okay this weekend in the Canyon Race.  Still nothing great but decent.

After all, my goal race is now three weeks away.  It feels sort of dorky to be telling people that I am training for a 5K but there it is.  JT has been great in giving me pointers the past few weeks and also on how to handle the next three.  It was his idea to use the Canya Canyon and the FS IV races as opportunities to go out "stupid fast" and blow up and just make them hard speed workouts.   I still have to be believe that unless my 800 times come down a bit more the next two weeks a PR is going to be damned hard to come by unless I get that significant of a boost from the lower altitude and the fast/reasonably flat course.  I mean crap... I ran an 18:49 last year and I was the 36th Men's finisher but also 3rd in my age group... talk about a tough crowd.

The speed work this fall has been tough but fun in a way.  It all makes me tired but a different kind of tired than I am used to.  Speed work makes me weight lifting or "bodybuilding" tired.  Where you are absolutely forced to sleep and lay in bed until the body is really awake on it's own and can get up by itself.  You know, having to wait until you are naturally awake?  It is that kind of  tired and requires that kind of sleep and rest for adequate recovery.

Oh, and on recovery, I can say that FINALLY I think that last week, 9.5 weeks post LT100 I am finally 100% back.  I wonder if my little 50K  jaunt with Ben back in September hurt or  helped my cause?

Lastly... we went up to Boulder last night for Halloween and to visit friends.  It was a fun time.  We wondered around the Pearl Street Mall a bit... talk about a show, and wandered into this imported foods shop.  I only have one question....  WTF is this stuff????

What is it and should it really even go into a microwave???

Happy November.