Running is in our genes...

`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run. ~ Bruce Springsteen

Yes, I realize I just quoted the Boss. And I also realize how incredibly uncool that is. But I just read this great Discovery Magazine article about how humans are uniquely able to run long distances.

Biomechanical research reveals a surprising key to the survival of our species: Humans are built to outrun nearly every other animal on the planet over long distances.

Pretty cool stuff, I must say. Probably not enough to offset my Bruce quote but whatchagonnado?

Today I didn't have a run scheduled so I went to the Rec Center to lift weights. It has been a LONG time since I hit the gym and I suspect I am going to pay for it tomorrow. I tried to take it easy and mostly managed to do so but given the time that has elapsed since my last sojourn into the weight room, I am not counting on being soreness-free in the morning.

Tomorrow I have an early appointment in Boulder, then a conference call and then will do an 8-miler with some strides down in the valley. Probably will just work some of the great bike/pedestrian trails Boulder has to offer but we'll see what happens in the morning.

Work it.

~stubert.

Hard frost...

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. ~ e e cummings

Tonight saw our first really hard frost of the season with sustained temps overnight in the mid=20s. We have had a few lighter frosts this season already but last night is the first night that we had cold enough temps (for long enough) to really hammer home that Fall is approaching.

At the risk of alerting the valley-dwelling leafers, the aspens are starting their yearly burst into full on color mode and should really get going in the next couple of weeks. Last year, I wanted to organize a run up on the Leadville course to enjoy one section in particular that is just packed with amazing aspen groves. We'll see if that happens this year. Given racing schedules, weddings, lack of running fitness, and buddies in India, it may end up being a solo venture.

I have decided to only bore you once a week with running exploits (doing more of a weekly synopsis as opposed to the daily detailed update) so I'll only mention my daily runs in passing with fuller reports coming at the end of the week. That being said, Caleb and I did a 20-miler yesterday on the Backroads course that was quite fun. Then I went to see Pineapple Express which had moments of goodness but overall was pretty much a trainwreck. Not on my recommended viewing list.

The birds (along with the bears) are going nuts right now and so I need to head to Boulder to get more food for the freeloaders. May check out Burn After Reading while we are down there. I'll keep you posted.

Today's homework: Register to vote if you haven't done so already.

~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.

Rach rules...

What's wrong with being sexy? ~ Nigel Tufnel

I meant to get this posted earlier in the week but have been distracted.

You ever have someone that just knows you? Well, I do and she is awesome. The other day, she was relating the story of her grandfather and how he left his family with a creed:

What one lives for may be uncertain, but how he lives is not.... Man should live nobly though he does not see any practical reason for it, simply because in the mysterious, inexplicable mixture of beauty and ugliness -- virtue and baseness -- in which he finds himself, he must want to be on the side of the beautiful and the virtuous.

~Oren K. Palmer

Wonderful words to live by.

So given that I am one of those people who never lets a serious moment pass without an attempt at a joke (usually pilfered from someone else), I said, "Rach, you know what my creed is, right?"

To which she replied in a slurred English accent, "Have a good... time... ALL the time."

Gotta love it when your special lady taps into Viv Savage's philosophy of life -- and precisely the obscure quote from a 24-year-old movie that was going through my head.

~stubert

The week in review...

Man, just 'cause it's a theme song don't make it not true. ~ Kirk Lazarus

You read about my debacle last Sunday... the rest of the week went relatively well considering the hurt I tossed on myself. I screwed up by getting off my gameplan a bit in the later part of the week but felt okay most of the time. So I certainly am not going to complain any.

I rested up on Monday then did a "road" loop up by my house with some strides. Since the terrain up here is hilly, sometimes running strides can get a bit tricky. Either up or down, the undulation provides for some excitement. Technically, strides are supposed to be run at 5 or 10K pace. This is challenging enough when one doesn't know their 5 or 10K pace -- toss in a hill or two and things get really exciting. So basically, I just throttle it up a notch or three for what feels like 100 meters and call it good. Repeat, rest, repeat, try not to completely blow up. I definitely was still feeling Sunday a bit on Tuesday but the session went well.

Wednesday I needed to head down to Boulder for a film festival jury session so I went early and met up with Pete for a recovery run. Pretty much the perfect duration and tempo and it was great company. We just ran from his place over to the Boulder Creek path then up to Eben G. Fine (I think it's "G") then back at a steady, conversational pace. Perfect.

I had planned to do a 10-mile aero run on Thursday but the day got away from me then I headed to Boulder on Friday to try to do a make-up run but forgot my bottle, the weather was crap and Rach wasn't feeling well so I bailed and just took the day off. Which left Saturday for fun and/or games. A 4-mile recovery run was on deck but I opted for a 13-mile loop mostly on pavement. This was supposed to be an aero run but screw it, I turned it into just a steady pace run. Push it on downhills to an approximate aero pace then try to keep a low 10 or better uphill. Probably too hard but it was fun. I did the loop at about a 3:40 marathon pace which is encouraging. At least that is what I am telling myself so please, don't let me in on it if I am full of it.

As I said earlier, Rach hasn't been feeling so hot of late but she is such an awesome pants that she went into the shelter today to help with a bunny massage class and meet with some volunteers. Someone accidentally locked her keys in her car so I jammed down on the cycle to unlock her car for her and then was just able to make it to a screening of Tropic Thunder. Pretty funny, I must say. Not the best movie ever by any stretch of the imagination but if you want to just kick back and be entertained for an hour and a half, I recommend it.

Tomorrow we head back to the shelter to clean runs and then will probably come back up to the hills where I'll try to throw down a 15 miler. I may head to the dirt for this one or just head over to Mag or Rollins Pass and do something on the less technical terrain they offer. Haven't decided yet. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Today's advice: Don't punch anything harder than your hand. (That doesn't relate to anything, I'm just sayin' is all.)

~stubert.