Training Week: March 23 - 29

Winter wonderland Sunday morning in Ft Collins with Nick Clark leading the charge.

Sunday: 

• AM Run: 36.81 Mi - 7,000' - 5:47 - Long: The "March Madness" group run in Ft Collins. Another long day on the trails with Nick, Ryan, & Jason. There was a little more snow than the previous day up high, and it turned to slush/mud down low later in the run. Another summit of Horsetooth & Arthurs. Legs are starting to feel stronger on the climbs, I just need to learn to pick up my feet more when I am tired though. Clipped a rock and took a hard fall right at mile 35 on the least technical terrain of the day. Landed on grass and soft dirt though, not even a scratch. 

Monday: 

• AM Run: 10.13 Mi - 1,100' - 1:29 - Easy: Only one run today. Took it very easy too and stuck to mostly flat / gradual trails. Still in Ft Collins, and it was snowing a little which made the mud stick to the shoes. Overall though no soreness from the weekend, just tired legs. 
• PM Road Bike: 33.72 Mi - 800' - 2:51 - Commute: Rode all over Ft Collins going to shops repping VFuel. I think getting out on the bike like that definitely helps flush the legs because I felt a lot better afterwords. Or it could have been that the sun finally came out and it warmed up..

Tuesday: 

• PM Run: 10.37 Mi - 2,000' - 1:36 - Easy: Cruiser on the trails back in Boulder. Chose to take the morning off and just run in the afternoon (technically getting over 24 hrs of rest without taking a "day off"). Up Bluestem, across Mesa, down Skunk. Legs felt much better today, recovering quick! 

Wednesday: 

• AM Run: 14.77 Mi - 800' - 1:48 - Tempo: First tempo of the year. Warmed up for 4 miles with Dave Mackey, then did a 7 mile tempo effort with the first two miles pretty casual at 6:13 & 6:16, then I dropped the pace to 5:48, 5:44, 5:45, and finished the last two on a gradual uphill and into the wind at 6:00 and 6:09. A total of 7 miles in 41:55, so an avg of 5:59. Not the fastest, but I was still feeling the weekend in my legs and the goal wasn't to kill myself. Another big run planned for Saturday in FC. 

• PM Run: 4.76 Mi - 600' - 0:42 - Easy: Bumped into Ryan Lindemulder about a mile in and joined him for a short jaunt out to Shannahan and back. Legs were a little tired on the ups, looking forward to two easy days before the weekend.

Thursday: 

• AM Run: 11.31 Mi - 2,800' - 1:59 - Easy: Enjoyed a very casual solo trip up Green Mtn via Bear Canyon & the West Ridge. First Green summit since moving to Boulder, many more to come. 
• PM Strength Workout.
• PM Run: 4.07 Mi - 500' - 0:37 - Easy: Battled the wind for about a half hr on the trails, then finished up with a mile barefoot in the park.  

Friday: 

• AM Run: 4.39 Mi - 700' - 0:35 - Easy: Wow I''m sore today... haven't done lunges or squats in a while and yesterdays workout made me a bit tender. Easy Shannahan lap to shake out the legs.
• PM Run: 4.32 Mi - 800' - 0:41 - Easy: Casual jog up around NCAR and back. Legs were still a little sore, made sure to get in a good stretch afterwords. Big day tomorrow with the FCTR.
• PM Road Bike: 6.42 Mi - 100' - 0:27 - Commute: Rode down town to meet up with the RMR for the last Friday social at Sanitas Brewing. Hung out for a little bit and talked to some people before taking off early to get back and get some sleep. 

Saturday:

• AM Run: 28.50 Mi - 9,700' - 5:11 - Long: The annual Round Mtn Roundup with the Ft Collins Trail Runners which is a ladder workout on a mountain. Its 4.5 miles from the TH parking lot to the summit but the run is as follows: Lap 1 up to mile marker 1 and back down, lap 2 up to mile marker 2 and back, lap 3 to 3, lap 4 to 4, lap 5 to the summit and down. The hitch... Each mile splits for each segment should be faster than the last, making the 5th lap the fastest all around. After nearly 20 miles and 6k+ vert in the legs its a near all out effort to the summit, then you still have a 4.5 mile descent. Nick Clark & I ran together until the start of the final lap when I took off trying to see how fast I could go. I opened up about a 1:15 gap by mile marker 3, then over the last mile was toast... he caught me right at the summit and beat me by 3 seconds. Tough workout but a very fun day to end my highest volume week in nearly a year and a half.

The standard Green Mtn summit photo. I didn't have one yet, believe it or not.

Week Totals

Running: 129.43 Mi - 26,000' - 20:25
Road Biking: 40.14 Mi - 900' - 3:18
Core/Strength: 1 Sessions
Mtn Summits: 3 Summits - 3 Peaks

Year Totals

Running: 866.49 Mi - 131,700' - 127:07
Skate Skiing: 210.68 Mi - 15,700' - 25:04
Road Biking: 96.98 Mi - 3,100' - 7:18
Core/Strength: 11 Sessions
Mtn Summits: 7 Summits - 5 Peaks