Mon - AM: 7 miles (1,600') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long.
PM: 7.5 miles (1,900') easy with Duncan C and Ryan B. To top of Horsetooth via hiking trail and back on Wathan - Spring Creek - Falls. From my house to the summit of Horsetooth via the hiking trail, it is exactly 3.15 miles (1,500'), or 5k, (per Ryan's GPS device). Got me thinking about putting on a 5k race one of these days...

Tues - 10 miles track. Jane's Tuesday morning workouts are done for the winter, so it was to the track with Kyle and Slush for a ladder workout (400, 800, 1,200, 1,600, 1,600, 1,200, 800, 400). Legs were kind of heavy and I really didn't feel like pushing myself into the pain cave at six in the morning, so went at what felt like a 10k (ish) effort throughout. As is typical, I sped up as things loosened: 83, 2:44, 4:07, 5:24, 5:25, 4:01, 2:41, 78.
PM: 8 miles (2,050') easy. Horsetooth summit via hiking trail, then back on Wathan - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long.

Weds - AM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Easy jog on the Falls loop. Home long.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long again.

Thurs - AM: 11 miles (1,250') steady. Ran out and back on Bluesky/Indian Summer from Bluesky TH with Sarah, Slush and Brian. Notched the effort coming home on the last two miles. Beautiful morning out.
PM: 11 miles (2,100'). 31:18. Towers w/4 mile warm up. Went out relatively easy with Slush and upped the effort to relatively hard toward the end.

Fri - Noon: 7 miles (1,600') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long. Thought this one was going to be a slog, but ended up feeling great. Love it when that happens.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long.

Sat - AM: 25.5 miles (7,800'). Crosier triple Bagger. This one is becoming a rite of spring/ early summer for me. Third year in row knocking out this big-vert workout. The route includes three summits of Crosier (9,250'), with out and backs from each of the Devil's Gulch trailheads. Climbs of approximately, 3,200' (5 miles), 2,300' (4 miles), 2,000 (3.75 miles). A total of 13 runners from the Fort Collins Trail Running group turned up for the early start, with six completing the three bag, three the two bag and the rest enjoying a beautiful day on the mountain with a more reasonable single summit.

Crosier was clear of snow the whole way up, thus marking the march higher as the peaks begin to open up. Crosier has perhaps the best views of any of the lower-elevation peaks in the area, covering the Estes Valley and all surrounding peaks from Meeker to Mummy, with even a shot of Evans and Pikes off in the southern haze. The snow-capped peaks on this windless, bluebird morning were particularly stunning.

Told to look 'epic,' this was the best our first group of summiteers could come up with:
In keeping with tradition, I hit each of the three .6 (500') summit slogs at an increasingly fast pace on each successive summit. Last one just about did me in. Splits:

First ascent: 1:02:15 (summit spur: 8:55)
First descent: 36:47
Second ascent: 46:30 (8:07)
Second descent: 32:59
Third ascent: 45:21 (7:49)
Final descent: 48:49

Total running time: 4:42:33
Total outing time: 5:33:13

Great day on a great mountain. Next week is a 29-mile single summit of Round Mountain, which will wrap up three consecutive weekends of silliness on some of our closest-in and favorite 8-9k peaks. More on that later.

Sun - AM: 20 miles (2,700'). Bluesky from home with Indian Summer (outbound) plus two of the three Loveland-side loops. Home long. Went easy, and slogged a bit, but generally felt decent. Hot again. No snake sightings (yet).

Total: 122 miles (24,000')

Big week on miles and vertical, which has me feeling strong. After working through some pretty significant fatigue the last few weeks, this last week was a breath of fresh air. Legs felt great, the running was easy and no real long-run fatigue to speak of. Just got to keep that rolling for a few more weeks (seven to be precise).

Interesting race weekend with some quality times posted at Miwok in the Marin Headlands. Dave Mackey gets it done again, but Mike Wolfe, and Hal Koerner were right there. All three of those guys look to be in great form as they get ready for Western States next month. As does training partner Ryan Burch, who dismantled Andy Henshaw's course record at the hilly, high-elevation Collegiate Peaks 50 on Saturday. Haven't spoken to him yet, but he's got to be super stoked with his run. Clearly Ryan is in great form right now, but as he always says, 'still need to piece together two good 50s.' Confident that will happen next month for Ryan, and also have a feeling that Western States is going to be a deep race in general this year.

Mon - Noon: 7 miles (1,600') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long.

Tues - AM: 7.5 miles intervals. 2.5 mile w-u, 2 mile c-d. Last session of the fall/winter season for Jane's group before we reconvene in two weeks at the CSU track for the famed Tuesday Night Track workouts. Anyway, workout was mile, then 4x800 in the cemetery: 5:29, 2:42, 2:42, 2:40, 2:38 on two mins rest. Feel like I've lost a step or two since Feb, but to be expected as the focus shifts to the hills.
PM: 7 miles (1,600') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long.

Weds - Noon: 11.5 miles (2,500') easy. 38e - Bluesky - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Audra - Southridge - home long.
PM: 7 miles (1,900') easy. Straight shot from home to top of Horsetooth with Pete. Home long way. Legs finally feel like they are getting into the uphill groove. Need to start getting into extended climbs and stop messing around with rolling climbs. Always feels better that way.

Thurs - AM: 12 miles (3,800') hill repeats. Pete lit up the bat sign for a punishing hill ladder workout on the Horsetooth hiking trail. Slusher and I responded, but also spotted on the trail were Victoria, Ashley, Rob, Dennis and Mike. From the intersection with Soderberg, the workout went 3 x 1/4 (+185' each), 2 x 1/2 (+380'), 1 x 3/4 (+550'), 1 x 1 (+680'). After the first three quarters I had to push through some pretty serious burn, but got 'em done: (2:42, 2:41, 2:38); (5:42, 5:38); (8:40); (11:28). Finished out with a summit of Horsetooth on what was a clear and beautiful morning, then home long with Mike and Dennis.
PM: 6 miles easy. Social run with FCTR. Ended with a timed downhill mile. Failed to start my stopwatch, but pretty sure I went 3:58 or so.

Fri - PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long.

Sat - AM: 28.5 (9,600'). Greyrock 4 Spot. Another hair-brained idea from Pete. Three full ascents of Greyrock, and a fourth to the meadow. The original plan was a full six pack (which Pete completed), but because of time constraints, I had to cut it down to four summits. I ran out of time again on the day, so had to forgo the final 2 miles of scrambling to and from the summit. Ran the first summit in the dark with Sam, where we almost got blown off the mountain, then picked up Slush for the second summit, soloed the third and fourth, running the final descent with Brian K. Felt good all day on this Hardrock simulator, with my climbing legs feeling a whole lot better than they have for the last couple of weeks. But then I always find sustained climbs easier than rolling type stuff. Good turn out from the FCTR crew, with Pete, Sam, Bard, myself, Victoria, Steph, Kristel and Ashley turning up at 5, and then Jenn, Cherilyn, Laura, Slush, Brian K, Brian W, Alex A, Greg, Aaron and Chris H all being spotted throughout the morning. There was even a guest appearance from Ryan's bride Meg who was out for a hike.
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January: 440.5 miles (45,850')
February: 304.5 miles (39,200')
March: 469.5 miles (67,100')
April: 427 (62,000')

Total: 1,641.5 miles (214,150')
Avg: 410 miles (53,538')
---------------------------------------------------

Sun - 10.5 miles. Jogged a stiff 6 miles on the Poudre bike path, then paced Sarah over the last 5 miles of her half marathon, which she rocked (1:25). The 6:30s felt surprisingly comfortable given the effort the day before, which was nice as I was bit worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up. Had fun watching my dad run with Alistair in the kids race after the marathon.

Total: 107 miles (23,000')

Good week. Got a little confidence back on Saturday after cruising the Greyrock workout with relative ease. I never felt particularly tired and the climbing was easy. Prior to Saturday, a lot of my hilly runs have been big old slog fests, so it was a very pleasant surprise to feel the glide back in my legs. More importantly, there was no real recovery to talk of. After a few easy miles on Sunday morning, my legs felt great and ready to go

May is hopefully going to be a big month with lots of climbing and, of course, lots of quad-pounding descents. And then, if the sun ever comes out, there'll be the miserable midday layered sweat runs to prepare for the heat in the Western States canyons. But first will be Jemez, the defense of my crown, and hopefully a stab at Kyle Skaggs' record.

Mon - 0 miles. Work and kids all day.

Tues AM: 5.5 miles intervals. Workout was mile, 3(1,200, 1,000). My workout ended after the second 1,200 (for the record: 5:39, 4:00, 3:23, 4:31). Halfway through that second 1,200 rep, I cut a wet grassy corner, lost my feet and skidded straight into a metal sign post. Made impact with my left shin and felt a huge surge of pain. Got up and hobbled back to my car. Upon getting home and cleaning the wound up, I discovered that it was much worse than I had originally thought. I had a huge gash and a puncture wound that offered insight to the inner workings of my lower leg. Pretty nasty. Hopped back in the car for a trip to urgent care. Four stitches later and I felt like a lucky man. Could easily have been a broken bone, but ultimately it was nothing more than a bad gash and some bruising. That's not to say that it didn't hurt like hell. Doc told me to stay off it until at least the next day, which brings me to the second run of the day:
PM: 1 mile. Attempted six on the valley trails, but turned around a half mile in after I finally convinced myself that I was being ridiculous and that this was not a good opportunity to run through pain.

Weds - AM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long. Woke up early and was relieved to find that my leg looked and felt okay, relatively speaking. Was expecting to see a cricket-ball-sized lump, but the swelling was relatively mild. Heading down the road, I bumped into my new neighbor Mike Enger who was also running into the park. Ran the loop together at a conversational pace.
Noon: 13 miles (2,700'). To Soderberg via 38e/Shoreline, then short loop on valley/Nomad before heading up Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Audra Culver - Southridge - home long. Leg throbbed on the downs, but felt like it was just superficial bruising. Definitely dodged a bullet there.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long. Second lifetime treble. Yeah, playing catch-up a bit. Felt like my second run of the day used to when I first started doing doubles: creaky.

Thurs - AM: 7 miles (1,600') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long. This run was a disaster. I could barely muster the energy to maintain a running cadence on the uphills and even had to stop at the waterfall steps to gather myself (2 miles in). Felt completely wiped the whole run. Not a good sign for my PR attempt on the hill later in the day.
PM: 10.5 miles (1,900') hard. Towers TT. 30:25. Warmed up with a very easy 3.5 miles on the valley trails to see if my legs were feeling any better than in the morning. They seemed to be okay on the flats, but anything upward facing was still way harder than it should have been. Quads just felt beat. I gave it a go on Towers nonetheless and proceeded to have my arse handed to me. The opening rollers felt okay, but as soon as I got on the steep stuff it was clear that this was not going to be a good day: No power and lots of burn. I pushed out a hard effort anyway, and took what my legs gave me, which was the hardest 30-minute run I've ever had on Towers (2:50 to turn, 8:45 to Stout, 16:43 to Herrington, then pretty much gave up). Not to worry, just one of those days. Sam ran away from me yet again to post an impressive FKT of 28:32. He now officially owns me on Towers. Mrs Malmberg reset the FKT for the women with a 34:16. I'm renaming the hill Malmberg Mountain. They can have it!

Fri - Noon: 10 miles (1,400') easy. Bluesky TH to Arthurs TH + mini Arthurs/Mill Creek loop. Another day, different legs. Felt smooth.
PM: 7 miles (1,600') easy. Soderberg - Spring Creek - Heerington - Stout - SpringCreek - Falls - home long. Legs much better again.

Sat - AM: 16 miles (500') easy. Ran 12 miles to the start of the Fast and Furriest, then ran a 21:xx with Chester, my neighbor's dog, who slipped his collar four or five times. To the amusement of many, he slipped his collar 100 meters from the off, turned around and ran back to the start. Tried to kick down Celeste in the last 100 meters, but Chester was pretty much done. 1k with Alistair in the kids race afterward.

Sun - AM: 20 miles (2,900') easy. Out with Ryan and Eric for an early morning out and back on Bluesky, picking up three of the four loops (no Wild) and coming home long.

Total: 100 miles (14,600')

Firstly, huge props to teammate Darcy Africa for dismantling (8:25) the female Rim2Rim2Rim FKT in the Big Ditch. Just last weekend Krissy Moehl and Devon C Helms took a few minutes off the record, and then Darcy cruised through and set what looks to be a pretty convincing standard. Great to see the women going toe to toe and getting competitive with these things. Would be great to see Darcy and Krissy running at Western States (as I believe they would like to), but that's a discussion for another day (or an exhausted discussion that needs no further wasted breath).

Secondly, props to Sam and Jenn Malmberg who continue to set the standard on Towers. Both were in action this Thursday, and both reset their PRs (and FKTs). The new standard there is now 28:32 and 34:16 for the men and women respectively. Impressive stuff. Really hoping these guys put together the races I know they are capable of on the Real Big Hill down south in August.

My running week wasn't the best. I started out with a zero on Monday, maimed myself on Tuesday, and then felt the need to play catch-up the rest of the week, which didn't do much but make me tired. Thursday - after a treble on Wednesday - was a disaster. I'm not sure I've ever had such tired legs, but things opened up a bit for me from there as the week progressed. I remember going through something similar last year as the miles took their toll midway through the WS buildup, but then things turned around and after a long taper I was raring to go. Hopefully things will play out the same way this year. Six more weeks of work, then three weeks to get into racing shape.

Mon - Noon: 4.5 miles (700') easy. Falls loop.
PM: 6 miles (500') easy. Valley.

Tues - AM: 10 miles intervals. Small group this week. Workout went: mile, 2 mile, mile, 2 mile. Ran with Scott who was doing the workout at MP in preparation for his shot at a 2:49 marathon on Saturday in Rhode Island. The 6:30s felt way harder than they did on the bike path at American River, but overall my legs were just tired. No niggles really to speak of. Anyway, the digits: 6:29, 12:56, 6:08, 13:10.
PM - 9 miles (1,900') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long. Legs felt good.

Weds - Noon: 8.5 miles (1,700'). Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg. Felt great - hardly any residual funk in the legs.
PM: 11.5 miles (2,500'). 38e - Bluesky - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Audra - Southridge - home long. Felt a little tired toward the end of this one, but certainly no more than in the middle of a big training block. If recovery from Western States goes half as well as this, then I may even be able to race Hardrock.

Thurs - Noon: 6 miles (500') easy. Valley. Slop factor was high after overnight snow.
PM: 8.5 miles easy. Bike paths with small FCTR group.

Fri - Noon: 9 miles (1,900') easy with Aaron. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long. Legs felt good.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy. Falls long.

Sat - PM: 12.5 miles (1,300') steady. Out and back on 38e to '6 mile point,' home long way. 43:20 out (6 miles), 49 back (6.5 miles).

Sun - 13 miles (800') w/Jason O on the Foothills trail and at Pineridge.

Total: 103.5 miles (12,800')

Bounced back well from American River, so was able to get back after it from Tuesday. Dana was out of town all weekend, so I had to front load the week a bit and then scrap for time Saturday and Sunday. Lucky for me, neighbors and friends gave me an hour and a half looking after the kids Saturday and Sunday, so was able to get out and cover some miles. No such luck today (Monday), but that's okay. Zero days are good.

Towers is on this Thursday. For once, I don't have a race two days later so I plan to finally take a stab at reclaiming the title after what seems like a lot of jogging on the hill this year. As always, everyone and anyone is welcome to join the fun beginning at 6:00 pm from the lower Horsetooth parking lot (Soderberg). Times and other stuff from two weeks ago here.

Oh, and it would appear that July 30th has been designated National (well...Local) Towers Day. Yes, '24-hours of Towers: The Run' is on! Details.

Mon - 8.5 miles (800') easy. Bluesky to Arthurs and back.

Tues - 9 miles intervals. Ran with Jane's group on a beautiful spring morning. Workout was 5 x 1 mile on the two hilly City Park routes, with middle three at fartlek (hard/medium) and 3-5 mins between miles. Miles 1, 3 & 5 measured .97, while miles 2 & 4 measured 1.04 (according to GPS watches): 5:22, 5:40, 5:23, 5:38, 5:18 (5:25 - 5:32 pace). After a somewhat disappointing 5k race on Saturday, I made the pledge to push my interval workouts a little harder to see if I can't make sub 5:20 pace a little more sustainable; however, with AR50 upcoming, I decided to slot into my usual interval effort for this week. Next time out I'll try to make good on my pledge (recovery from AR50 and other excuses pending).

Weds - 6 miles (500') easy. Valley.

Thurs - 10 miles (2,000'). Towers. Cruised to a comfortable 33 something ascent.

Fri - 4.5 miles (500') easy. Out and back on last 2 miles of AR course.

Sat - 50 miles (3,500'). AR50. 6:00:09.

Sun - 14 (2,000'). Out and back to Hwy 49 on Western States course from start/finish at Placer High with Ryan, Scott, Andy J-W, Jill Perry and Eric. Out super easy to No Hands Bridge, then picked it up a bit heading up to the Hwy 49 crossing. Back steady w/ Fast Eddie in 58 minutes, which is two minutes faster than I ran it at the tail end of WS last year. Felt like a reasonably hard effort, especially on post-50 mile legs, but certainly a few gears under overdrive. Running it in 60 minutes on 93-mile legs just about killed me last June. Out in 1:13. Really pleased with how good I felt.

Total: 102 miles (9,300')

Got a little confidence back this weekend at AR after a couple of performances that I felt were a little sub-par. I'll take that and roll it into the next seven week block of mileage before the Western States taper. Probably the biggest thing for me this weekend was feeling so good on Sunday after the hard AR effort. Things were definitely a little creaky getting going, but once Scott and I picked up the pace for the last ten miles, things started feeling good. Good enough even that I was able to engage in a 250-meter kick down with Scott as we got onto the Placer High track. For the record, Scott destroyed me, so I'll have to make sure to break him early in June.

Next seven weeks will be all about mileage and vertical gain/descent, with two faster workouts per week slotted in there as well. Starting to get that tingly goal-race feeling already. Love it.

Weds - Noon: 11 miles (500') easy. 1:22. Ran on the Beltway Trail in windy 80 degree weather. The wind kills me out in CO, but in Vegas it's pleasant enough. The bike path, which runs parallel to the 215 Beltway, is not so pleasant however.

Thurs - 12 miles (1,500') easy with Josh on the Grand Circle trail at Red Rock Canyon.

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January: 440.5 miles (45,850')
February: 304.5 miles (39,200')
March: 469.5 miles (67,100')

Total: 1,214.5 miles (152,150')
Avg: 405 miles (50,717')
---------------------------------------------------

Fri - Off. Driving all day from Vegas to The Fort.

Sat - AM: 10.5 miles. Poudre Rive Run 5k. 3 mile warm up 4+ mile cool down with Pete, Sam and Jenn.
PM: 4.5 miles (800'). Easy cruiser on the Falls loop. Legs felt like bricks.

Sun - AM: 3 miles easy setting up T&H 5k course.
PM: 7.5 miles (1,500'). To the top of Horsetooth to check out the fire situation in Redstone.

Total: 71 miles (5,700')

Things are starting to get a little crazy out here on the bone-dry Front Range. As most people who reside in the Front Range know, the potential for devastating wild fires is huge. There is abundant fuel, which is dry to the core, and the predictions are for another dry spring.

This weekend, it has been the turn of the Loveland/Fort Collins area, with what has been dubbed the 'Crystal (Mountain) Fire,' which is currently 5 percent contained but largely under control thanks to a couple hours of snow in the morning (we got lucky). I checked it out from the top of Horsetooth this afternoon and it looked to me like there was still potential for things to go up again with heavy winds. Last night it exploded from 30 acres to 4,500 acres after sustained 50 mph winds.

It isn't exactly clear what the extent of the burn area is, but the fire started on private property on the south side of Crystal Mountain toward the Dunraven Valley. It seems that last night's winds blew the fire east northeast into Buckhorn Canyon, over Stove Prairie and into Redstone Canyon. From my vantage this afternoon on top of Horsetooth, I could see pockets of smoke coming from areas on the west side of Redstone and large amounts of smoke billowing from Buckhorn. I know these areas well and there will assuredly be property damage. We'll see soon enough what the situation with the Forest land is, but judging from initial reports it seems there'll be significant burn down Buckhorn Canyon east from Crystal Mountain and also on the Dunraven side too, which is a huge bummer. Five or six years ago, Bobcat Ridge went up in flames too. Bobcat is five miles from my house and probably ten miles due south of the current burn area, so clearly the fire risk out here is high. Rain would be nice.

Monday - Noon: 7 miles (1,500') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg.
PM: 5 miles (1,000') easy: Falls long.

Tuesday - AM: 10 miles intervals. City Park group: 3x800 w/20 sec rest, 2 mile, mile on/off (lampposts), mile: (2:50, 2,46, 2:39), 11:16 (5:45, 5:31), 5:35, 5:13. Wasn't sure how I wanted to run these, so went with the flow and picked things up as the workout progressed. Ran with Chris M, which helped keep things honest, and started feeling decent by the second mile of the two-mile interval. Despite a general feeling of lethargy, I had a nice background hum of strength and a feeling that I had extra gears if needed, even on the last 5:13 mile. Always hard to get those 800s cranking first thing in the morning.

Weds - AM: 5 miles (1,000') easy: Falls long.
Noon: 8.5 miles (1,800') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Herrington - Towers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long

Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,400') tempo. 1:14:12. Out easy in 41:25, back in 32:47 (7:55, 6:42, 6:36, 5:49, 5:44). Kyle, Scott, Sarah and Tim in attendance this week. Felt like we took a step backwards with regards to temps, which were well below freezing, but at least there was very little wind. Wanted to keep things somewhat under control for this one, given the Antelope Island 50k in two days, but went a little faster than anticipated after giving Scott 30 seconds at the turnaround, as I answered nature's call, and then having Scott blaze the trail the whole way back (for a 90 second back-half PR). I finally caught him coming down onto the last dam, and then settled in for the last mile and half. Aside from the 5:45 start and the asphalt surface, this has become one of my favorite workouts of the week. Good company, challenging route and it feels like it's over before I'm properly awake.
Noon - 5 miles (1,000') easy: Falls long

Friday - 5 miles easy on the bike paths from Rick and Rae Jean's house in Kaysville.

Saturday - 32.5 miles (4,000'). 3:47. Antelope Island 50k.

Sunday - 8.5 miles easy on neighborhood streets in Vegas. Felt okay after the first couple of creaky miles, but the pavement and dreary surroundings made this an exercise in near pointlessness. Couldn't take any more, so quit at just over an hour.

Total: 96.5 (11,700')

In Vegas until Friday, so will look to get into the desert a bit and explore some of the canyons in and around the Red Rock/Blue Diamond area. Hoping to find some time to get up Mt Charleston, but seems unlikely considering I brought work with me.

Anyway, hopefully I can keep a lid on the volume this week and then again next week as I get ready for American River. The thought of running a fast marathon and then jumping on the trails for another 24 miles of rolling has me nervous enough that I should be able to keep things under control. Just heard that Lake Sonoma has been cancelled, which means that there could well be a few guys switching to AR, making an already stout field that much more interesting. Guess we'll find out in due course on that one.

Monday - Noon: 8.5 miles (800') easy. Blue Sky TH to Arthur's TH and back. Nice and mellow. Felt pretty good for the most part. Still a little lethargic, but really no soreness from Salida.
PM: 5 miles (1,100') easy. Falls loop long.

Tuesday - AM: 9 miles intervals. Met with Jane's group for her City Park/Cemetery workout: mile, 3x fartlek mile, mile. Wasn't expecting great things so just cruised for the most part, but definitely wanted to make sure I got some leg turnover going this week: 5:43, 5:49, 5:55, 5:52, 5:20. Rest between each was 2 - 5 minutes.

PM: 7 miles (1,500') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg. Bumped into Aaron just before the falls and ran the loop with him.

Weds - Noon: 8.5 miles (800') easy. Bluesky TH to Arthurs TH and back.

Thurs- AM: 10.5 miles (1,400') tempo. 1:13:32. Good group this week for the "Oh my God it's early" hill tempo run on Centennial. In attendance were Sarah, Slush, Tim, Matthew and Alex (a record number since I've been doing these runs). Out easy in 41:39, back in 31:50 chasing down Matthew and Tim who went a little harder going out (7:30, 6:19, 6:33, 5:49, 5:39).
PM: 7.5 miles easy with the trail running group. Come join us: Thursday at 6:00 pm alternating week to week between an easy 6-7 mile loop around Pineridge (followed by pot luck beers and tucker), and the Towers time trial from the Soderberg TH at Horsetooth. Next week we're on The Hill.
Fri - 10.5 miles (2,000') easy. From Soderberg to Arthurs TH and Arthurs summit, back via Howard.

Sat - 35 miles (6,400') long. 5:40. I don't think I would have chosen to run 35 miles with a butt load of climbing today, but as this was the first annual 'March Mileage Madness' run (or 'Triple Dick' as Marie prefers) I certainly didn't want to miss out on the excitement. A total of 31 runners took on one of the three course options (10, 23, 35 mile), with just a small contingent opting for the Big Boys outing. Driving down to the start at Alex's place, I passed the 7am start group who were making their way around the southeast side of the reservoir (which we were circumnavigating as part of the route). I ended up starting solo at 7:55, approximately 45 minutes behind the rest of the 34-mile starters.

As is typical for me on runs like this, I was very much in one-gear mode and content just to plug along, enjoy the morning and get around in one piece. I ended up catching up to the lead group of Pete, Drew and Sam on top of Arthurs and then cruised on at my morning's pace for the remaining 15 miles. This was a fun route in that it was a complete circumnavigation of the reservoir (with some contrived silliness added on in Horsetooth/Lory). Coming back around the east side of the reservoir heading south to the finish, it was certainly satisfying to check out the three-summit route that I had earlier knocked off on foot. Started getting a little tired coming down to Maxwell, but that was mainly because the end was nigh and I was ready for a beer. Fun times BBQing, drinking and hanging out after at Alex's place. We're a lucky bunch to have such a great community of runners and such an awesome trail network here in The Fort. More here.


Sun: 10 miles (1,300') easy. Bluesky TH to Arthurs, with small loop up and around Mill Creek Link. Saw everyone and their brother out this morning, including Marie and Karen, Bryan, Rob, and Mike and Shannon.

Total: 111.5 miles (15,300')

So another one in the books and another step closer to the summer racing season. Got both my faster turnover sessions in again this week, although went pretty easy on Tuesday considering the marathon three days prior, but all the same I feel like I am training a little wiser than last year by switching things up a bit and not just churning out endless days in the hills. Hopefully the slightly tweaked training philosophy will yield results come June.

Went close to six hours on Saturday, which is just about where I want to be for American River (with an additional 15 miles covered of course) and that felt relatively comfortable. I wasn't exactly jumping out of bed on Sunday, but the 10 recovery miles I did do felt fine. I would have liked to have run for an extra hour, but income taxes were calling my name and I've decided to take things a little easier leading up to the Antelope Island 50k next weekend so I can hopefully run hard there.

Lots of Pikes-related chatter starting to brew over at GZ's place with general registration opening this week. Kind of bummed to be missing out this year, but that's alright. I'll be back next year to hopefully take a crack at beating MC if he can go yet one more year as King of the Hill. However, I think the Spaniard (Jordi), Daryn or A.N.Other with a good run could finally have his number this year.

Mon - AM: 11.5 miles (2,500') easy. 38e - Bluesky - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Audra - Southridge - home long way. Cold and dank out. Procrastinated on getting out the door, but convinced myself eventually. Cold until I started up Towers, then all was well with the world.

Mon - AM: 9 miles (1,900') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Carey Springs - Towers - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long. Felt like we were well above freezing this morning. Really looking forward to spring.
PM: 9.5 miles (2,100'). Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Wathan - Rock - Audra - Southridge - home long. Twilight was just as nice as dawn. It was a real joy to be outside moving through nature today.
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January: 440.5 miles (45,850')
February: 304.5 miles (39,200')

Total: 745 miles (85,050')
Avg: 372.5 miles (42,525')
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Tues - AM: 7 miles intervals. Met Jane's group for a cemetery workout: mile; 2(3x800) w/20 seconds between reps, 4 mins between sets; mile. After 1.5 mile warm up, workout went: 5:19; 2:37, 2:41, 2:47; 2:39, 2:43, 2:47; 5:13. Tough workout for 7 in the morning. Couldn't hang on to the 800s with the short rest, which was disappointing, but the miles were encouraging. Beautiful out again.
Noon: 9 miles (2,300') easy. Horsetooth/Audra long. Tired legs, went super easy.

Weds - AM: 11 miles (2,500') easy. 38e - Bluesky - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Rock - Audra - Southridge - home long way. Nothing like a Towers ascent first thing in the morning. Felt Good.
Noon: 7 miles (1,500') easy. Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Herrington - Spring Creek - Soderberg - home long.

Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,400') tempo. Out and back to 5 mile mark on HTH course from Maxwell with Scott and Sarah. Out easy in 41:08, then back in 32:06: 7:55 (up north dam hill), 6:15, 6:32, 5:50, 5:32. Legs felt tight, so didn't push as hard as planned but definitely felt like I got a good tempo effort in.
PM: 6.5 miles easy with FCTR group.

Fri - Noon: 9 miles (2,300') easy. Horsetooth/Audra long.
PM: 5 miles (1,100') easy. Falls long.

Sat - AM: 31.5 miles (7,600') long. 5:37. Chubby Cheeks course with Ryan. Nice overcast morning for this, my longest run of 2011. I had originally emailed Ryan to see if he wanted to get in on an AR50 type run with 12 miles at tempo on the roads followed by 20 miles of trail. His response was less than enthusiastic, so we opted for The Chubster, which I actually hadn't run in its entirety. We ran the whole thing at a steadily comfortable pace, just plugging away in the same gear the whole way around. Lower sections of Mill Creek had some pretty sketchy luge runs, as did north-facing Timber and the frozen abyss that is Well Gulch, but I stayed upright the whole run despite having to dance a bit in places to do so. Most everything else was clear. Run time was close to 5:20, but we stopped on both summits and at the Visitors Center for extended periods. Felt strong the whole way round, which was nice, especially as this was my first run over 4 hours in quite some time. Looking forward to letting rip on the course at the end of the year.

Sunday - AM: 7.5 miles setting up Tortoise and Hare 12k course.

Total: 122 miles (22,700').

This was an enjoyable week of reconnecting with my local trails and just getting out and running a bunch of vertical. I also got out for a couple of quality turnover sessions Tuesday and Thursday, and was reasonably encouraged with the way those went. For anyone interested in getting in on these excellent workouts, Jane's group meets Tuesday morning at 7:15 in City Park by the golf course parking area, while the Thursday morning hill tempo group meets at Maxwell at 5:45 (yeah, I know).

More of the same next week, with maybe a light day Friday in preparation for the Salida Marathon, one of my favorite local events on the calendar. I am hearing that the event is close to being sold out, so register now if you're procrastinating on that one.

I filled in a few of the blanks for May this week by signing up for the Jemez 50, where I'll be looking to defend my crown, and also Collegiate Peaks 25 where I'll mainly be looking to get a quality long run done.

Towers time trial this Thursday from Soderberg at 6:00 as usual. From what I hear, things got a little epic with a mid-run blizzard last time out, but having run up Towers three times this week, I can report that conditions are currently 90% clear which means the track should be in close-to-PR shape come Thursday, the last headlight session of the year. I'm a bit behind on updating times from the last two sessions, but should have that covered later tonight.

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.

Noon: 5 miles (1,050'). Falls, long way home.

Week Ending Feb 13

Mon - 4.5 miles (900') easy. Falls loop.

Tues - 4.5 miles (900') easy. Falls loop.

Weds - Off

Thurs -5.5 miles easy. 4 x 800 @ 6:00 on the mill. Should have stayed well away. What was I thinking? Felt like I really tightened up my hamstrings on this run.

Fri - 4.5 miles easy on the bike paths.

Sat - 4 miles easy in New Orleans with Mock.

Sun - 27 miles. New Orleans Marathon. 2:36.

Total: 50 miles (1,800')

Essentially a rest week with a hard weekend effort.

Week Ending Feb 20

Mon - 4.5 miles (900') super easy. Legs were predictably sore after the marathon, but not too bad. Hiked some of the icier sections of trail, but was able to jog reasonably comfortably.

Tues - 6 miles (900') easy. Valley trails. Pretty big slop factor on the valley trails, which slowed things down nicely. Calves still pretty sore.

Weds - 12 miles (2,800') easy. Horsetooth - Falls - Spring Creek - Stout - Loggers - Mill Creek - Towers - Secret Trail - Westridge - Horsetooth Summit - Audra - Southridge - home. Out with the Montrail crew (Dakota, Ryan and Geoff) for an easy cruise. Legs getting there slowly, but certainly still sore in the calf department. Thankfully, both Ryan and Dakota were getting ready for Red Hot this weekend (Dakota won, Ryan 3rd), so everyone was on board the easy train with me.

Monday - PM: 4 miles easy. Treadmill.

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January: 440.5 miles (45,850')
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Tuesday - PM: 9 miles w/4 @ marathon effort. With the windchill temps in the negative double digits, I wasn't much looking forward to this run, but thanks to the positive effects of scheduling with friends, it got logged. A few miles at marathon pace was on the docket, and Tuesday was really the only available day to get it done, so after a couple of e-mail exchanges with Sarah to make sure we were both still up for it, we met after work for a 30-minute warm up before hitting the one-mile stretch of bike path on the Mason Trail between Harmony and Timberline for some pretty serious arctic action. The wind was blowing hard north to south, so heading north for the first and third miles the running was particularly painful, with the second and fourth miles heading south feeling almost tropical by comparison. Workout went: mile, 2 mile, mile @ marathon effort w/2-3 min jog between intervals. Splits were: 5:58, 11:50 (5:45, 6:05), 5:29 (gave Sarah 30 seconds on this one, so ran a little harder to chase her down). Clothing for my run on Sunday in 60 degree temps @ 7500': shorts & T-shirt; clothing Tuesday in -12 degree temps @5,000': two pair socks, four layers on top, three layers on bottom, two pair gloves, two pieces headgear. Brrrr. Don't think Ive ever experienced such a wild temperature swing in such a short period of time.

Weds - Noon: 4.5 miles (900') easy. Falls loop. Super cold again, but the sun was shining and there was no wind, so ended up enjoying a nice little jog. Crunched through untouched snow, which allowed me to enjoy the footprints of animals that had come before. Followed some pretty fresh cougar tracks coming down from Spring Creek to the three-way with Soderberg for a while, then a fox for almost the length of Soderberg down from Horsetooth trail intersection, and of course lots of deer and birds.

Thurs - AM: 10 miles (1,400') hills. Centennial to HTH 5 mile and back with Sarah, Slush and Celeste. Cold again, so dressed in many layers, perhaps one too many. Jogged out in 43, back in 33:30.

PM - 6.5 miles easy. FCTR social run.

Fri - Noon: 4.5 miles (900') easy. Falls loop. Super sluggish.


Sat - AM: 10 miles (1,400') easy. To 5 mile on HTH course and back with Fort Collins Running Club. Some good banter with Slush, Sarah, Alex and Pete. Ian Sharman runs 12:44 at Rocky! Wowzer. Chalk one up for the Brits.

Sun - AM: 3.5 miles easy. Bike paths setting up T&H 8k course. A solid 42-runner turnout in cold and snowy conditions. Good stuff.

Total: 52 miles (4,600')

Legs have been feeling sluggish all week, but that's typical for this stage of the taper. More rest next week in the form of a daily 4-mile jog and I should be raring to go come Sunday. I'm still kind of clueless as to a goal time, so the plan is to go by feel at no faster the 5:45 miling and hopefully slip into a pace that I can hold for 26 miles.

In other news, my number was pulled in the Hardrock lottery today which gives me a few things to think about for the summer. I guess I was hoping I would miss the draw this year and then get pulled in 2012, but things rarely go according to plan when lotteries are involved. I have until June 1 to make a final decision without actually having to commit funds. Obviously if I commit the funds then I'll be looking to run, but if recovery from Western States is slow, I can still give up my spot to someone on the waitlist and get 50% of my entry fee back. With that degree of flexibility, I'm pretty sure I'll be sending in a check this month to hold my place.

I am guessing that AJW's 46:58:20 (18:46:51 & 28:09:29) is a combined WS/HR record, so that would be a fun target to chase. Anyway, focus is still on New Orleans for the next week, then AR50, and then WS/HR. One step at a time.

Great to see fellow countryman Ian Sharman dominate in Texas yesterday. Let's hope this is just the beginning of the 2011 British invasion. Both Ian and I will be running AR50 and WS100 this spring/summer and then Canada-based Brit Ellie Greenwood has to be among the favorites at any race she lines up at this year, including Western States. Let the pillaging begin (continue).