Mon - 24 miles (2,700') easy. 3:09. This was a repeat of a run I did with Burch a few weeks back. From my house, the route goes roads to the Devils Backbone trailhead in Loveland (12 miles) via Masonville/Hwy 34 and then straight back north on the Bluesky trail: high route to the keyhole, then lefts through the Loveland-side loops, Indian Summer and then the long way home once back in my neighborhood. Nearly all the climbing on this route comes in the return 12 miles. Hit the trailhead in 1:20 flat (6:40s) at what felt like a reasonably relaxed pace, then switched to jog mode, coming back in 1:49.
Building on Sunday's 19 mile run, a still sore foot/ankle, and presumably some residual fatigue from New Orleans, my legs felt pretty beat towards the end. I took that as an opportunity to put in a late-race effort by upping the tempo through the last two miles of trail before the climb back up to my house. Redstone: 15:45; Hwy34: 62; Backbone: 1:20; 38e: 2:52.
Tues - AM: 8 miles intervals. Met up with Jane's early AM group to get a bit of turnover back into the routine. Wasn't expecting great things given 19 & 24 mile runs the previous two days, but did manage to elevate the heart rate which I guess was the only real goal. Workout went: fartlek mile, fartlek cross country hill mile, mile steady road, 1,200, 1,000. Ran with Chris M for these, which meant I was working a little harder than originally planned. 3 mile warm up with Scott, Sarah and Celeste, then:
1.05 mile fartlek - 6:21 (6:03 pace)
1.18 mile CC hill fartlek - 7:13 (6:06)
mile - 5:34 (5:34)
.75 mile - 3:54 (5:13)
.62 mile - 3:17 (5:17)
PM: 9 miles (2,300') easy. Haven't run this one since before Western States last year when it was pretty much my daily lunchtime route. Figured I'd launch back into the short-mileage vert racker and see how things felt. Physically I was pretty tired, but really this was a mental exercise to see if I've got the desire to go out and do what I did last year in getting ready for States. Jury still out on that one. Anyway: Soderberg to bench - Horsetooth down to Falls, then Spring Creek - Soderberg - Rock trail - Audra Culver - back up to Horsetooth via Southridge - Rock to Soderberg - long way home (aka: Horsetooth/Audra long).
Weds - AM: 11 miles (2,500') easy. 38e - Bluesky - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Audra - Southridge - home long way. Legs felt reasonably spry which was a surprise.
PM: 5 miles (1,050) easy. Falls, long way home.
Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,400') hills. On Centennial to 5 mile marker on HTH course. Out easy in 39:44, back @ conversational-steady w/Tim in 34:47.
PM: 4.5 miles in Louisville on Coal Creek Trail with PI teamates Josh and Tim.
Fri - AM: 5.5 miles (800') easy. In Boulder with PI product line managers, photographer, and others for a slippery run on the lower Boulder mountain trails from N-CAR.
PM: 6.5 miles easy on Coal Creek Trail with Ian, Scott, Josh and Tim.
Sat - AM: 11 miles easy. With PI team for run and photo shoot at Boulder Reservoir.
Sun - AM: 11.5 miles (2,800') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Mill Creek - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Soderberg - home long way.
Total: 111 miles (14,600')
The WS build is officially on. Front loaded the week in anticipation of a lower mileage weekend with meetings, eating and boozing at the Pearl Izumi team summit. Managed to squeeze in a few more runs than anticipated Friday and Saturday, but really nothing but mileage padding. Anyway, happy to come in at over 100 miles on the week, although was hoping for a little more vertical.
So the summit was a huge success and as usual the folks at Pearl were fantastic hosts. A lot of great things in the works with regards to product and racing. First and foremost, the Peak II is now in full production and will be available from retailers in the very near future. I've run in most all of the prototypes leading up to this release and I have to tip my hat to Mike Thompson, the PI run shoe dude, for really listening to the feedback from the ultrarunning team in developing and modifying this shoe. While it is called the Peak II, it is essentially a complete overhaul of the original Peak with the only real similarity being the focus on keeping the shoe light. Unlike some of the other lightweight trail runners currently on the market, the Peak is built to last. I put over 600 miles on one of the protos and can honestly say that if I hadn't given the shoes back to Mike for inspection, I would have put them through many more miles before donating. But durability is just one part of the picture. The shoe rocks on many fronts, but more on that when they're on the market.
Tim Olson rocking the Peak II. Photo, Eric Wynn.
In addition to Pearl Izumi fun and games, we had a great presentation from Robert Kunz, researcher/developer-in-chief at First Endurance, whose products I am again excited to be using in 2011.
Highgear also sent Dale Fleckenstein down to present on the excellent range of products those guys have in the offing. Like Pearl, Highgear has listened, and I am super excited for the launch of the new Axio HR, which will combine the features of two existing watches (Axio Max and Alterra) to produce a really great mountain running watch that will also include a heart rate monitor and associated data. The launch on that is this summer, but perhaps more exciting (for GPS junkies) is the 2012 scheduled launch date for the Highgear GPS watch, which will combine the mileage tracking capabilities of GPS with all the great vert tracking capabilities of the Highgear altimeter technology. Exciting stuff.
Eric Wynn was there all weekend snapping some great pics, which I am looking forward to seeing more of as they become available. The guy is quite the talent.
And finally, check out these short video interviews with teammates Scott and Darcy on running extreme distances while maintaining balance as parents, spouses and career professionals. Both these guys are class acts and great ambassadors for the sport.
Anyone else smelling spring?
Fri - AM: 5.5 miles (800') easy. In Boulder with PI product line managers, photographer, and others for a slippery run on the lower Boulder mountain trails from N-CAR.
PM: 6.5 miles easy on Coal Creek Trail with Ian, Scott, Josh and Tim.
Sat - AM: 11 miles easy. With PI team for run and photo shoot at Boulder Reservoir.
Sun - AM: 11.5 miles (2,800') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Mill Creek - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Soderberg - home long way.
Total: 111 miles (14,600')
The WS build is officially on. Front loaded the week in anticipation of a lower mileage weekend with meetings, eating and boozing at the Pearl Izumi team summit. Managed to squeeze in a few more runs than anticipated Friday and Saturday, but really nothing but mileage padding. Anyway, happy to come in at over 100 miles on the week, although was hoping for a little more vertical.
So the summit was a huge success and as usual the folks at Pearl were fantastic hosts. A lot of great things in the works with regards to product and racing. First and foremost, the Peak II is now in full production and will be available from retailers in the very near future. I've run in most all of the prototypes leading up to this release and I have to tip my hat to Mike Thompson, the PI run shoe dude, for really listening to the feedback from the ultrarunning team in developing and modifying this shoe. While it is called the Peak II, it is essentially a complete overhaul of the original Peak with the only real similarity being the focus on keeping the shoe light. Unlike some of the other lightweight trail runners currently on the market, the Peak is built to last. I put over 600 miles on one of the protos and can honestly say that if I hadn't given the shoes back to Mike for inspection, I would have put them through many more miles before donating. But durability is just one part of the picture. The shoe rocks on many fronts, but more on that when they're on the market.
Tim Olson rocking the Peak II. Photo, Eric Wynn.
An earlier iteration. The upper material has changed, but styling is essentially the same.
In addition to Pearl Izumi fun and games, we had a great presentation from Robert Kunz, researcher/developer-in-chief at First Endurance, whose products I am again excited to be using in 2011.
Highgear also sent Dale Fleckenstein down to present on the excellent range of products those guys have in the offing. Like Pearl, Highgear has listened, and I am super excited for the launch of the new Axio HR, which will combine the features of two existing watches (Axio Max and Alterra) to produce a really great mountain running watch that will also include a heart rate monitor and associated data. The launch on that is this summer, but perhaps more exciting (for GPS junkies) is the 2012 scheduled launch date for the Highgear GPS watch, which will combine the mileage tracking capabilities of GPS with all the great vert tracking capabilities of the Highgear altimeter technology. Exciting stuff.
Axio Max Steel - the heavier 'street' version.
Eric Wynn was there all weekend snapping some great pics, which I am looking forward to seeing more of as they become available. The guy is quite the talent.
And finally, check out these short video interviews with teammates Scott and Darcy on running extreme distances while maintaining balance as parents, spouses and career professionals. Both these guys are class acts and great ambassadors for the sport.
Anyone else smelling spring?
