And There Goes February :)

February turned out to be a solid month. Lots of weather issues to contend with the first two weeks of the month but things have been downright pleasant these past two weeks. My last three runs were in shorts which is AWESOME!

246 Total mile of running in 36:00 hours even of time with 21,310 feet of gain. (20 Actual Days of Running.) Note: It should have been 240 miles instead of 246 but I did a Thursday night group run with "the group" to be social and to let everyone know that I was still living here and alive. LOL!

Backing things off a little bit this week and even more so the week after as Salida gets closer. After looking at the new course I have thrown out any ideas of a PR since there is now more single track on the uphill (outbound) portion. It's a bummer but it's something that affects everyone the same so throwing "time" out the window it's going to be a battle for placement.

Life has thrown one of those cool and unexpected bonuses at me this past week... as it turns out, right after Salida (And I mean right after the race) I am hopping in the car with my Daughter Annie and we are going to CA for her Spring Break. We will be spending three days in Palm Springs, then off to Santa Barbara for three days before heading back to Colorado.

Looks like I am going to get to run some nice dry trails soon after all!

A Solid Week

Getting ready to head out Saturday morning for 20 miles.

A solid week of running. 60 miles in 9:09 and that's with taking Monday and Friday off as total rest days.

A little light on the vertical for the week though. I blame having to run on the 'mill Tuesday for that.

Things are looking up here weather-wise. We are going to get into the 40's this week. While that will make for comfortable running temps the problem will be in everything thawing and refreezing into ice and or things just being a total mess of standing slush. Picking running routes is going to be a bit tricky but doable.

The running went well this week. I am still having to perform a certain amount of cognitive gymnastics to get my brain around running but I think that will be less of a thing from here on out. This week the physical act of running wasn't as tough as convincing the brain that I can actually do it or more importantly that I WANT to go out and run right now.

But I caught a lucky break of sorts on my 9 mile run with hill repeats on Thursday... I finished the entire workout with an inspiring and promising time that tells me that things are definitely moving in the right direction. Just the kind of proof I need right now for some extra motivation and inspiration.

March is going to be a fun month... not only will there be the race in Salida and getting to go to Salida to look forward to - we are also going to Cancun at the end of the month! Hell Yeah! :) There is that birthday thing in there too on the 8th... but I am sort of ignoring that for now.

Here is something that is neat too... most everyone knows that one of my greatest vices, weaknesses, or addictions is my soda drinking habit. Well, I have not had a soda since Thanksgiving! Pretty cool. I have gotten to the point that I don't miss it anymore.

Anyway, a solid week this week. The tale will be told by the end of this coming week and seeing how I hold up to the stress... But I have to say overall I am pretty confident and to be honest right now I am rather happy to be in "training mode" again... in a weird way it makes life so much more simple for me and simple is good! :)

Hello February!

First of all... January... it didn't end up the way I had hoped. The X Games and a cold the last week of the month pushed me heavily into survival mode. The last week I just worked with my clients, drove a sled (450 miles in five days - no idea on the vert) - nursed my cold and just did what I had to do to get by. 0 Miles the last week.

Ended January with 186 miles which is right between the miles I had for last Jan and the target I was shooting for this Jan... It will have to do!

Hello February! Winter is finally here and in full force. I have never seen this much snow in Aspen ever in all of my three winters living here. It's going to make running for the next few days interesting to say the least.

Fortunately I don't think I lost a lot of fitness last week even if I did not run. Driving a sled is hard and for nine to ten hours a day it takes a huge physical (and mental) toll. I got a workout every day whether I wanted it or not.

But now that Feb is here it is time to start including speed-work into the training. The next four weeks are all about that as I get ready for the race in Salida which is March 12th. Running outside was not happening today so I did a nine mile progression run on the 'mill which ended up taking 1:13:52. I am hoping that by the time Thursday gets here, the path on Cemetery Lane will be cleared off enough on the hill to do hill repeats... we shall see.

I am kind of glad... no... really glad that February is here. This month I will be focusing on two things and two things alone... the business and building it further, and running. No other side-jobs, distractions, or anything like that. The only thing I will have to battle in terms of training obstacles will be the the weather and judging from the long range forecast right now it should not be that bad.

Looking forward to Salida... might try a trip to Moab or at least around Junction to hit some dry trails in two to three weeks... I don't remember the last time I saw honest to goodness ground...