January - I am where I am

January... weather has had and impact on both me and my training. I'll just leave it at that.

I "think" I got in some good work in spite of the conditions though... some riding... some StairMaster... some 'mill work... and a handful of runs outside.

I can't really quantify the numbers of miles and vert accurately, at least with the bike, and the running is suspicious as well, but from a time point of view, it looks like this.

Bike - 22:26:21
Run - 18:33:18

So basically, 41 hours of training for the month of January and you can more or less take out the first week of the month as I was still up on the mountain... So more like 24 days of training with a couple of rest days thrown in.

The left hamstring seems to have mostly "let go" but still some issues with the knee. This feels very familiar to where I was at the end of June last year so I am confident (and praying) that the heavy bike focus with minimal running thrown in for now finally resolves it all in a matter of days.

Someday I will might write out what really happened and just how scary it all was when it all  happened on December 5th... hell, it is still scary and I do have lingering fears that I will never be the same. Time will tell.

I have a ton of ball caps and T-shirts inbound with the RunAspen.com logo on them. That's pretty exciting... oh... and rather pricey to boot. But the products are going to be amazing. All of my runners get shirts, some get hats, and other hats are just for "others."

Cannot wait to go to AZ at the end of the month! I just want to see ground that isn't covered in feet of snow... that will be nice.

That about covers it... I hope to be running more outside in Feb but that is weather and trail/path/road dependent. As things look right now, I will not be able to train this year like in the past going into Salida... kinda glad I am doing the JV race now... that's for sure.

On Second Thought

I have been keenly aware of my lack of interest in training and going to Silverton this summer for the Hardrock 100. Keenly aware.

But sometimes I can be full of shit and even fool myself...

Yesterday when I was riding the spinning bike at the ARC, I started counting up all of my riding hours these past few weeks. And I am now at a point where I can follow up a two hour plus ride with some easy miles on the treadmill as I am still rehabbing this injury...

So when I got home yesterday, I looked at the past month or so on Training Peaks and for someone who is not really wanting to a race or train - I certainly am acting like someone who does...

I do not have any interest in running outside right now so much although I do plan to begin that next week. Snow and lots of ice, mostly ice being the reason. We have about another two weeks historically here in Aspen before winter tends to loosen it's grip so until then, yeah, mostly indoor workouts mostly for safety's sake... But as long as I keep pushing the volume that I have been I will be more than okay...

Theoretically, I can go into this February, even post-injury, stronger than last February as I lost the last week of last January to a combination of a cold and the X-Games.

But anyway, a neat insight into where my head may or may not be when it comes to Hardrock.

Judging by my words and general disposition about it, yeah... no investment. But I always say, "when in doubt, watch what person DOES instead of what they SAY, because the truth is always in the action, not the words."

So yeah, I am in it now... and to honest, I feel a little flicker of actual excitement for once! And not just for Hardrock - Super Excited to go to Salida in March.

I think that I just needed to get off of the mountain and get back into my life full time and because I am now... things are truly looking up. 

Post Script Edit - And I've been dieting rather consciously these past few weeks as well and really getting things dialed in this week, so that also shows my level of investment, even if I had not truly realized it. 

Almost There

Last year we were completely done with snow making and had all of the guns broken down and put away by December 8. This year (season) we finish up tonight. The extra weeks of snow making that I was not anticipating has taken a toll, physically, mentally, emotionally, and in terms of my two other business (three now but that's for later). I have only been able to do what I can do to keep things afloat and operating, meaning no growth.

Injury... I pulled my left hamstring the first Monday of December and that ended up involving some other tendons and stuff. So for the past few weeks, I have been seeing the PT the days that I was not on the mountain working just to keep me together. It took awhile and I do not know if they were the root cause that weakened things and then when I ran that Monday a few weeks ago it is what caused things to go POP, but my Scarpa hard shell mountaineering boots have not been helping the problem.

So this week I switched a lighter boot and voila, no more leg pain.

Training... Riding the crap out of the spinning bike at the Aspen Rec Center. Rode for three days this week for 6.5 hours total. Between that and working this week, I am staying fit and getting stronger, and of course the leg IS getting better. But work is training too... digging, hiking, climbing, lugging around hoses, hell, even driving a sled is a workout that involves the entire body. The bottom line is this... I can tell from my bike rides that I am still VERY fit and ready to start training in earnest once I am off of the mountain completely.

Salida... I am going to run the half-marathon instead of the full. That week of Salida is the first week of training block 1 for Hardrock. If I were to race the marathon I would be losing nearly a week just recovering after the race. Doing the half, I can still race it and be able to follow up with a another good long run the day after and not compromise the following training week. Plus Shad is going to run the half (I think) and I will have a chance to keep up with him, doubtful, but it's a goal. LOL!

Hardrock... on a scale of one to ten, my enthusiasm is about a one and I don't see that changing any time soon. I sure hope it does because this little adventure is going to cost a lot money and time and I'd rather be spending both on something that I am excited and invested in doing rather than not.

Other work... one of my runners is doing Bandera today. Waiting like an expectant father for that result. He has come a long way these past few months and this has been our goal race since October. (update: he ran 5:35, 11th overall, 3rd AG) Dude is a solid ultra finisher... now he is stepping his game up. RunAspen.Com is getting great traffic and I expect more runners on the roster once the Leadville Lottery is done.

And the biggie from the week... this startup that I have been working with/for the past three years or so, I became 1/3rd owner of this week, call it payoff for all of my sweat equity the past few years. Could mean nothing in the end... could mean a lot more... time will tell.