Ski, run, run, run...

If one could run without getting tired I don't think one would often want to do anything else. - C.S. Lewis

Tues: 2:00, ski, A-Basin, 00:40, 4.5 miles, treadmill surges
Wed: 1:30ish, 11.4ish miles, Boulder tempo
Thurs: 00:36, 3.45 miles, Casa recovery

Crazy week. My mojo has been thrown off a bit by the holiday but that does not seem to have affected my running. Which is nice. I have continued to be consistent and even tossed in some turns at the Basin on Tuesday for good measure.

Tuesday featured early morning snow sliding with Caleb, a buddy who hadn't skied since last March when he suffered a broken leg while skiing at the Basin. So it was a celebration of sorts, welcoming him back to the world of tele turns. A-Basin still has really only one run of man-made open but it was fun to get out there and spin a few laps. It wasn't too crowded on Tuesday morning so we just burned vert until we felt like we had explored the one run enough then called it good. Caleb is a two-time Leadville runner and has logged a bunch of really cool marathon experience as well. He has done a lot of the major events (Chicago, New York, Boston, San Fran) and logged a PR of 3:02 at New York two years ago (if memory serves). I definitely am putting that one on the list and may just toss my name in the lottery for next year's event for good measure.

Post skiing, I hit the gym for some surges on the treadmill and felt great. Good, solid warm up then 5 strong, 1-minute surges. Apparently the skiing treated me well as I felt awesome and just cranked through the workout in good form

Wednesday, I got up early and headed down to Boulder for a tempo run. I forgot my Garmin and iMapMyRun didn't work for me so well but I survived the technical difficulties to pull together a pretty amazing run. I warmed up really slowly then chased through the group to log over 11 miles total in about 1:30. Considering the warm up (~50 minutes, 4+miles), that is a really fast tempo for a Stu. I was pretty much done by mile 11 and coasted in the last half mile for a really solid tempo run. Too fast, yeah. But good to get things moving and sustain for that duration.

Today featured a quick recovery run. It was a gorgeous day up here and I was treated to virtual silence throughout the run. With everyone indoors watching football or whacking down enough food to keep an African village well fed for a week, I had the roads and trails to myself. I put it on auto-pilot and just ran at a slow, comfortable pace throughout. Headed up through Mountain Meadows and unconsciously, turned onto one of my favorite trails near my house. It was snowpacked and icy but that didn't seem to bother me much at all as I worked my way through the forest, the tempo of my footsteps providing the rhythm to carry me up and over hills and obstacles along the way. The trail became progressively less traveled as I made my way through the woods until I was breaking trail through 6 inches of untracked snow left over from our last storm. I popped out on the main thoroughfare and headed back towards my house. A red-tailed hawk was circling lazily overhead, ducking courageously through the tall pines until it drew the attention of a single crow who quickly made its way up to make its challenge. They danced, providing me ample entertainment to carry me over the last hill effortlessly. I made it home shortly thereafter, energized from the time spent out among the flora and fauna of the Colorado high-country.

~stubert.

One in the bank...

...one of many children... ~ Jane's Addiction

Hit the Basin up this morning for the kick-off for the '09-'10 ski season. I was a little rusty on the first run for sure and my new liners, courtesy of Larry's Bootfitting, will take some getting used to (yes, they are STIFF), but otherwise, it was a good first outing.

Luke and I didn't last very long - not due to any physical, out of shape-ness - but due to the ever building crowd of snow sliders flocking to one of only two mountains open for business. We made about 6 runs before calling it a day and Exo was actually spinning at a much faster tempo than normal. Our final foray into the maze was a 15-minute affair... only an hour or so after catching first chair. Alan is promising more terrain will open soon and with Keystone set to turn next week, the crowds should thin a bit.

I hit the gym on the way home to log some time on the treadmill and do a few surges. Temps climbed today which resulted in a squishy mess on local roads and trails. I definitely would love to get a treadmill at some point. Plop in a movie and bust out 15 miles. Sounds like a great combo to me.

Tomorrow is the date for the annual New York Marathon. This one is definitely on my list of "must-dos" as it is not only enormous but would be really cool to run through all five boroughs. Fred Lebow started the event back in the early 70s (if memory serves). There is a pretty good movie that goes into a lot of interesting detail about the event: Run For Your Life. The New York Times published an article recently about a man who created his own NYC marathon by walking around his block 75 times. I like DIY.

Tomorrow I have a long run on the schedule. Definitely not "planned" yet as I have no clue where it will be but probably will end up somewhere in Boulder. Unless you have other ideas...

~stubert.

They figured out a way to make it tougher...

Train don't run out of Wichita... unlessin' you're a hog or a cattle. ~ Owen

There are so many logistics to consider when promoting an event. I flirt with the idea of promoting a race up here from time to time but know there are a lot of hurdles to get over before one can have a successful race. Add trains to the list of hazards to consider. The Des Moines Marathon thought they had this covered. Alas, they were wrong.

~stubert.

Keep at it...

The longest journey begins with a single step. ~ Lao-tzu

Apparently, running marathons has somewhat transient benefits for most runners. It seems that in recent years, the marathon has become a mainstay on everyone's bucket list - well... life list, since running a marathon with any style whatsoever would not be feasible once one got to bucket-list time (for most people, at least). This Wall Street Journal article explains the phenomenon where people binge to get fit enough to run their event, then dump the regular workouts for less strenuous pastures.

Though marathon training or ultradistance running is not usually an exercise in moderation, one certainly can use an event such as a marathon to jump start a lifestyle change that can lead to improved health (both physical and mental) in the longer term. I know I rarely regret going out for a run, however brief. Give it a shot.

~stubert.

Humor is funny...

Why "Pinto"? ~ Larry 'Pinto' Kroger

I posted a clip from this series the other day. There are others that are equally amusing. Check them all out. Also, if you didn't see women's Boston Marathon finish, you really should give it a look.



Amazing.

~stubert

Now give us some attitude...

Just one shot of me not looking like I am about to die.
(Believe it or not, there are more!)

(Burp) Why not? ~ John "Bluto" Blutarsky

Just got a CD of shots of me from the 2008 Las Vegas marathon. Good times. Frankly, I am pretty psyched that I don't look like too much of a lump and like I am about to die or go on a brain eating rampage in these. The Denver marathon was another story entirely.

~stubert.

Another week...

Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art. ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

This one restful.

So I was in recovery mode this week so I don't have much to crow about aside from dumping residual soreness from the marathon very quickly. I was a bit sore on Monday and Tuesday, then fine. Really fine. Pretty encouraging, actually.

Here's the week in review:

• Sunday (10/19): Denver Marathon, 26.2 miles, 3:41:31. You already read all about this one.
• Wednesday (10/22): Treadmill recovery then swim, 5 miles, 00:46 (20-minute swim). Just kept the heartrate down and relax. The first mile or so felt like I needed my joints oiled then I loosened up and felt fine. Just did a relaxed swim afterwards.
• Saturday (10/25): Treadmill then indoor track then lift then swim, 5 miles (2 and 3) with strides, 00:40ish. The treadmill was killing me. For whatever reason the HVAC was off so my heartrate was through the roof at an easy 9-minute pace. So I went upstairs to the track and had a hard time running mellow so I just kinda cruised and ended up laying down several 7-ish minute miles. Yikes. I felt great and started working on some new form technique so we'll see how that evolves. Then I lifted and hit the pool for about 15 minutes.

Total mileage for the week: 36 miles
Total time for the week: 4:57 (excluding swimming and whatnot)

Really, I feel pretty solid now. Very nice. Bob called today to see if I wanted to join him in something stupid tomorrow but fortunately we have plans else I might have been tempted. The last time I went out with Bobby T, I ended up with heat exhaustion. Not holding that against him, I'm just saying is all.

So tomorrow I am supposed to do 7 miles and we are going to go to Denver to join in an Obama rally. Very excited for that. Then I'm continuing to ramp back up for a few weeks before I start my taper for Las Vegas.

A-Basin opened up last week so I am guessing the pull of the slopes will start to infringe upon my running. Such is life in the mountains.

~stubert.

Marathons really hurt...

Denver Marathon course map.

But Grandpa, what about my asthma? ~ Spaulding Smails


First of all, marathons on pavement are just brutal (as far as I know) and the Denver Marathon was no exception. Now that I have that off my chest, here is a full on race report for all you race report lovin' fools out there.

I am a little too wrecked to provide a Citizen Kane-style non-linear story line right now so we'll just do this the old fashioned way. Work for you guys?

Get up, stand up...

The alarm clock is a wonderful creature. Even though mine has been replaced by my iPhone (another wonderful creature), I have to give some shouts to the little fella that helps a brotha get up at 4:00 in the a.m. So up, eat, drink and out the door to downtown Denver.

I parked at GroundFloor Media Global Headquarters to save the hassle of trying to find parking closer to the event. Changed into my garb (no dolphin shorts, thank you very much) and then walked the three blocks over to the 16th Street Mall to catch the early morning shuttle up to the Capit0l area. Did you know that the johns at the Bus Station don't have doors? True story. So now you know that. Which is nice.

So the official marathon information claimed that shuttles would be running as early as 5:00 but apparently, they were sadly mistaken. So I got an unscheduled warm up by walking the length of the Mall. Not a big deal, probably a mile and a half or two miles.

Got to the event with plenty of time to spare. Watered the bushes in front of the Capitol building (just call me Groundskeeper Stu) then went to get into position with the rest of the wacky people. The corral was completely full by the time I got there but fortunately, the event is chip timed so you officially start when you cross the start/finish, vs. when the gun goes off. Sweet!

And away we go...
The plan for the day was to take it fairly easy for the first 6 miles or so. Since I got stuck way back behind my target time (and my target time for the first 6 miles), I picked up the pace a little bit until I was slightly in front of the Clif Bar 4:00 pace crew and settled into a comfortable pace. The early going was a bit hectic with everyone all piled together (relay people, half marathoners and those doing the full) and we ran past Lodo's landmarks (The Convention Center, The Can 1 and 2, back over by the Capitol) then headed out to City Park. Things got a little tight on the first part of that loop but quickly spread back out again as we made our way to Cheesman Park (about 9.5 miles in).

By this time, my eyeballs were floating and the first batch of Porta Potties had a line a mile long (no racers, I may add) so I kept going and decided that I would have to find a tree and hopefully not frighten any children. Just as we were leaving the park, 5 vacant johns appeared miraculously and lucky me, I only needed one of them!

Shortly thereafter, we said goodbye to the half marathon crew and I set out to start really pushing it in the attempt to run negative splits.
The Second Half...

So into the second half I ran, trying to keep a steady sub-8 pace. Mission accomplished for the most part. I really wanted to have a good segment between miles 17 and 22 and focused on my form during this chunk of miles. Unfortunately, the hammering I was taking running on pavement started to catch up with me after mile 20 and my times really started to suffer. The last 4-5 miles were excruciating with my feet really taking a beating along with my shoulders. I also started to experience some exercise induced asthma, something with which I have not had problems for many years. Weird. So the last several miles were fairly miserable and I lost a lot of positions in the last 20-30 minutes of the race. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. I was just happy to get it done.

Post event...

Wow, hammered crap does not do justice to how I felt immediately post race. I stopped after crossing the finish line to get my chip removed, grab some water and apples then started getting tunnel vision to the point where I had to lie down on the Capitol lawn for a bit. I then made my way very slowly back down the Mall (finally catching a shuttle) and back to my car where I changed and headed home.

My left shoulder was hurting so much I could barely lift my arm, my feet were really quite sore and my legs were tight and sore. Probably pretty standard for pounding pavement for 26 miles. Oh and there is a bobcat in our yard just kicking it on a rock. But I digress. My blistered heels didn't give me any troubles, which was nice and I never really pushed my heartrate to their upper limits. My abdomen hurt a little (and quite a bit afterward) but not so much during the event that I felt like it was hindering my performance. My troubles seemed to be abuse-based which is something I may be able to work on by focusing a lot more on running pavement. I'll get some advice and see. All in all, a great event and a really fun day.



Official results:
Chip time: 3:41:31 (2:30 faster than my goal)
Overall place: 348 out of 1719
Place in class: 37 out of 188
Overall pace: 8:27
Negative splits? Negatory.
Motionbased data

Caleb finished in 3:22:36 for 145th place and 30th in his class. Way to go Caleb!

Ok. Back to feet up, brain off.

~stubert.

T-Minus 4 days...

Tick, tick, tick. ~ Mark McKinney

The Denver Marathon is this Sunday (October 19) and I am finalizing my preparations. Today I did a "Practice Run" as Advanced Marathoning calls it... 7 miles with 5 at pace on part of the course (City Park). Well, in typical Stu fashion I did the 5 at my Las Vegas pace (actually faster). I guess I am getting pretty fired up. I didn't feel great for the first 2-3 miles but then really established a rhythm and laid down several 7:30s in a row. Again, not blazing by any stretch of the imagination but pretty good for a Stu.

So three days of "training" to go then we see what I am made of in a practice-run capacity. I am targeting 3:45 or so and would be really happy with a 3:40-3:50 finish. We'll see how things go.

Tonight is the last Presidential debate and I encourage everyone to watch. Early voting starts Monday for Coloradoans so go do that too.

More to come...

~stubert.

The long-awaited weekly summary...

Better late than never. ~ Anon

Ok... Work has been so nuts I just haven't had time to think much less write up my summary of last week's fun and/or games. So, without further ado... *drumroll* LAST WEEK's SUMMARY!!!

September 21-27, 2008

• Sunday (9/21): The Dreaded Hills of Ned Circuit, 13.5 miles, 2:10. Well, it was a good idea in theory and I actually didn't feel too badly until I got lost in the maze of roads above Hurricane Hill. Then it just got ugly. This was not exactly what I had hoped to experience but I have found that even a bad day out and about can be productive.
• Tuesday (9/23): Boulder Creek LT Extravaganza, 10 miles, 1:21. What a difference a couple of days makes. Really a great LT run. Did a 3 mile warm up then put the hammer down for 5 (the first two of which were uphill) then coasted for another 2. Felt great all around and was able to really motor for the full 5 miles. Good stuff.
• Wednesday (9/24): Reservoir Recovery Run with Rete (er... Pete. Got into it there a bit.), 5.25 miles, 00:52. Hit the res loop with Pete which is always a good time. We just took it really easy and enjoyed the scenery and company. At least I enjoyed the company... I can't speak for Pete.
• Saturday (9/27): Hammer Run in the 'Sack, 11.5 miles, 1:37. I was over in Gunnison to visit my pops and help him around the house so we played some golf on Friday (amazing how well one can score when one's dad gives them Mulligans every fourth shot), went to Donita's, then I went for a good run on Saturday morning. Stuck to my usual Cirque de Gunny loop for the most part with the obligatory Signal Peak climb then really put it in high gear on the way back to Dad's. Felt pretty solid, actually. That's what I'm talkin' about.

Total mileage for the week: ~40 miles
Total time for the week: 6 hours

So the week started out pretty poorly (two days hard in a row) then ended up quite well. Gotta love that. I think I was off a bit for mileage for the week but generally feel okay about where I am right now. The Denver Marathon is in three weeks or so and I feel like I can do 4 hours or less there and then keep focused until Vegas. Well... ski season starts up here soon so maybe I won't be so focused but I will be out there!

2:03:59...

Just a quick one before bed. The world record for the marathon was broken over the weekend. First time anyone has run under 2:04. Simply amazing.

And speaking of amazing. Rach made me TWO KINDS of cookies while I was on my run today. Made the leaden run somehow way better.

She rules.

~stubert.

Holy crap another week...

These guys at school… smoke. ~ Gavin

How did that happen? Another week just whoosh… in the past.

Well, here's the summary:

• Sunday: 12.5 miles up Rollins Pass, 1:47. Pretty good run. I was a bit tired from the day before but after about 3 miles started feeling okay and so I just kept going until the road maintenance wore out (at the second train bridge). Cool and a bit windy but nice to go on an evening jaunt in the high country.
• Tuesday: 9.5 miles in Boulder, 1:19. Brutal run. Not sure if I was still just wiped out from the weekend or what but I was definitely not feeling it today. Had a 9-miler on deck with ~4 miles at 10K pace. I am pretty sure I ran the planned 4 miles at 10K but that isn't saying much. It was my 10K pace for the day, not what I would consider a real 10K pace (if you get my drift). Pretty much maxed out. A bit ugly. If I have learned one thing after years of training and competing (and trust me, it took years of training and competing to learn this), there is no such thing as a bad training day. There's always something to be learned and something to be gained, even from what seems like the world's worst day out there. Plus, you were out there and not stuck in some goddamned cube for a few hours so chalk that up to goodness.
• Wednesday: 5-mile recovery run in the woods, 00:49. We had a bear pay us a visit Tuesday night so I was on the lookout for our fuzzy little friend throughout my run (no sightings). Just a fairly mellow run in the hills near our place. Walked the steepest sections in an effort to keep my heartrate down. Nice and cool with a brisk wind. Perfect woods running conditions. My left ankle was bugging me a bit and since that horrendous effort a couple weeks ago, my right knee has been giving me a little grief but on the heels of Tuesday's beating, this was a good, slow effort.
• Thursday: 9.5 mile Boulder Res loops, 1:21. Great, relaxed run at the res. I headed west from the East Eagle trailhead and did a short loop on the Eagle Trail then did a clockwise Res loop. Threw in Coot Lake for good measure (and some extra miles… this is not a 10-mile loop as published). Ran into Caleb just as he was getting started, which was super cool. Caleb notched a top 1000 in the NYC marathon last year with a 3:02. Pretty awesome, if you ask me. Hoping to get together with him in the coming weeks to have him kick my ass on one of his slow days. In any event, I felt strong and was able to keep a good pace throughout without taxing myself too much. Nice and cool (though you wouldn't have known it from the way I sweat) and no wind. Saw a couple of pelicans, which was awesome. I really like pelicans for whatever reason. Not necessarily a rarity in Colorado but still cool to see.
• Saturday: 5-mile recovery run Eldora road from Ned, 00:40. Just a nice, easy run on the only flat road I could think of in the area. Steady pace up, picked up the speed a bit on the way down. Felt really strong and worked on running smoothly and efficiently. About a half mile before the turn, another runner warned me of a bear up the road but I didn't see it. It is definitely that time of year, apparently, and the big critters are all out and about trying to pack on the pounds before the long winter.
  

Total mileage for the week: ~41.5
Total time for the week: ~6 hours

Not too shabby. I generally stayed on schedule this week with a couple of runs being just shy of planned. Overall, I am feeling pretty well and am not getting burned out. I am a bit concerned about what happens when the snow starts flying but we'll just play that by ear and not worry about it before it happens (which it will). Last night it snowed down to about 10000 feet so it is definitely on the way.

I also tried out a new pair of shoes today: the Pearl Izumi Surge. It is always a bit iffy trying out new shoes but Saucony no longer makes the ones I prefer (and they are much more of a trail shoe anyway) so I thought I'd give the Surges a shot -- particularly since I am doing the road thing for the coming months. First impressions are positive. They are definitely lighter than what I normally use and felt stable and fast on the road. I was planning to use them for tomorrow's run but decided that was a bad idea to jump into a fresh pair of shoes for a long-ish run. If these keep working well for me, I'll probably pick up another pair for use during the event as well. That is the plan, at least. I'll keep you posted. So far, I like them.

Tomorrow, I have a 17-ish miler planned for down in the valley. May turn this up a notch to 22 and run with Caleb. I'll let you know.

~stubert.

Heat and Stus do not mix...

I'm Mr. Heat Blister, I'm Mister Hundred and One. ~ Heat Miser

It is amazing how intolerant of heat I am. Yesterday, I was in Boulder and my run got delayed until around noon. It definitely wasn't what I would consider "hot" down there but I suffered a bit nonetheless. Maybe I had just prepared myself for an easier time but my heartrate was through the roof all day. I must admit, I was having a hard time not running too fast (which contributed for sure) but my heartrate in general was just a lot higher than normal.

This could all be attributed to lots of different issues - from base fatigue to the physiology of how one's body keeps cool. I am guessing it is a combination of factors. My sleep patterns have been a bit screwed up of late (getting to bed a lot later than normal) and I have been training more consistently as well. I am sure both these have contributed to my current state (which isn't bad, mind you). Those items, coupled with my heart having to work harder to push blood closer to the surface of my skin in order to cool me off in warmer temps is probably what did it.

In any event, I had a fairly hectic morning then finally got out for an 8-mile loop around central Boulder. I am able to maintain increased speeds on flat roads (which is nice) and aside from the overheating, felt okay. My legs were turning over well and so I worked on form and then did some strides at the end. All in all, a pretty good run.

On Sunday, I did a 13-mile loop up by my place and tried to keep a steady pace of 8:45-9:30 pacing. I spun the loop in just under 2-hours, which is averaging about 9-minute miles. This was supposed to be an aerobic endeavor but trying to keep that steady pace up hills at altitude definitely pushed me up into "going too hard" territory on a few occasions. I may just switch to heartrate training or something to ensure that I don't overdo it.

Tomorrow, I have a 10-miler scheduled and will be down in Boulder again. Might jump on some trails down there just for kicks or run their awesome network of bike paths. I'll try to get out earlier this time so as to not get stuck in the heat. Anyone up for a run?

~stubert.