April 11 to April 17

Back to work this week.

Monday; April 11: Up wayyyyy before daylight and out the door at 440am with Traysen. Yes, it was dark and cold, but this was to be the only time of the day I could get a run in. With a headlamp, it was actually a nice outing with no other "wild things" except me n Traysen! Just a 5.5 miler that was a bit ugly. I either was not awake, not sure I really wanted to be out in the dark, and/or my legs/body were still tired from last week. The remainder of the day did go better since the ole bones got some form of exercise for the day.

Tuesday; April 12: After the 20 hour day yesterday, today was a sleep in day! Wandering out of bed at 7am, it was out the door in Oakland, CA. A beautiful trails meanders along the San Fran. Bay and that was the bulk of the run, but I did venture into the Berkely Marina, around Chavez Park and then out to the Golden Gate Race Track (horses). A total of 15 miles. It is a nice change to run on flat, solid dirt (no rocks/tree roots), and at sea level!



Chavez Park, near Berkley Marina. This used to be a landfill but was turned into a park....what a concept?!



Children's Adventure Park, located near the Marina. This looked like too much fun! A real junk yard for kids!



Berkley Marina.

Wednesday; April 13: An all day flying adventure, ending the day in Newark...about two hours late! There was at least one cloud in the sky and that is enough to send Newark into orbit with never ending delays. I opted to go to bed as soon as we got to the hotel.

Thursday; April 14: AND since I went to bed at about 730pm on Wednesday night, the alarm went off at 3am! OUCH! That was 3am on the east coast and 1am in Colorado! OH yes, I am psycho....but this was not to be a day off from running. On the treadmill at 330am and back to the room at 445am. A quick shower and back to the airport for an early departure. As for the run...was hoping for 7 miles of hills on the treadmill but the ole bones were not even happy with a flat 6 miler at a less than fast pace! Just too early to get it going very fast! These types of runs are frustrating. The head has one thing in mind and the body just doesn't respond in the same manner. Even the "mind over matter" sometimes will not produce the results desired and today was one of those days. At least the 5 hour flight back to Salt Lake was better for the run. Being stuck in the cockpit for that long really allows the muscles to get very stiff. Luckily, the Airbus 320 has a roomy cockpit and I can get a couple of good stretching sessions in during the flight.

Friday; April 15: Did you all get your taxes done!?? It's that time again!
After yesterday's early get up, today was a sleeper in day and it was clearly 530am when Traysen informed it was time to go out. We finally made it out the door for a nice 10 miler and had a highlight of seeing about 15 elk within a half mile of the house. One even still had his antlers! The run went fairly well, especially in light of this being the first day home after a trip. Not a fast effort, but a steady trot with a bathroom break for Traysen.


"I know you have at least one more nickle in there!"



Saturday; April 16: What an awesome day of running! I met Michele from Team CRUD at Cheyenne Mtn State Park. We blazed the 5 mile loop for the upcoming race but still missed Lynne at the trailhead. Maybe we took that odd turn somewhere along one of those  numerous intersections? After tossing some clothes, it was back to the harder, hilly 10 mile loop; which we ran twice! On the first loop, we had plenty of chatter between us, huffing up the hills and cruising the down hill  easier sections. After dumping more clothes, out we went for the second loop and with much less conversation! For some reason? we noticed the uphills a bit more and the knees were noticing the downhills  on this loop.. On the North and South Talon trails I had the hairbrained idea to run that section in reverse from our first loop; well, now why did I do that? It was loaded with much more uphill! By the end of this loop, we were done, after 5 hours and 25 miles. A great run to say the least.

Sunday; April 17:  Traysen and I opted to get a later start of 620am; allowing a bit of daylight to show and ole Mom here to get some coffee in her! The first couple of miles were sloppy n slow due to some tired quads. After those early miles; however, we were cruising along for another 7 miles before Traysen decided he was done and ready for breakfast. After sending him blasting through the door to Dad, I went solo for an additional 6 miles to round out the day with 15 miles. The last couple of miles were a bit slow as the ole legs and body was tired. A good way to end the week.

Summary:  A very good week of running! The highlights: ran two very early runs when it would have been easy to sleep an extra hour; ran a good 15 miler on Tuesday; ran a full 40 miles over the two weekend days; ran a good 10 miler the first day home after a trip. The two down spots of the week: no weight lifting and no speed/hill work! Total miles for the week: 76.5 and yearly total: 904.5.
As I mentioned for Saturday, the 25 mile run was with a great runner, Michele. She has run a couple of 50 milers I have been considering for quite some time. After yapping with her for almost 5 hours, the Leadville 50 miler in July is now on the agenda! Quite a daunting race since it is 50 miles and it is in Leadville, CO, which means it starts at 10,000 feet MSL and climbs to about 12,000 feet MSL, four times! Michele described the race as "fun but hard." Sounds like my kind of torture!
http://www.leadvilletrail100.com/lt100races/LeadvilleSilverRush50MileTrailRunRace/overview.aspx

It is often a scary, daunting, nervousness producing thought when we are considering pushing ourselves further than in the past. This "pushing ourselves" can apply to a sports event, to an academic pursuit, or to a work related adventure or even the effort to lose weight and forge a lifestyle change, but the concept is almost the same. There is uncertainty that we will succeed, there is concern over how the "new territory" will feel or look like or how we will handle being in that new area. In the case of running an ultra as difficult as Leadville 50, there will be discomfort and there is concern over how we will mentally and physically handle that discomfort. But within each of these concepts of "pushing ourselves" lies the challenge of accomplishing what we set out to do and the thrill of success when we do accomplish the goal. In most challenges, etc, there is the path to the success....it is not just the accomplishment of the goal.....in training for an ultra, the path is the training involved. While it can be done, waking up one morning and deciding to go run a 50 mile race is not a good idea.....to be successful at this challenge, in the long term, it takes years of running experience and in the short term, it takes a dedication over the course of several months to put int he training miles and the right kind of miles. So, how do we all "push ourselves" mentally and physically? Well, in most cases, you just have to make the commitment, have a plan, and then implement the plan, all the while, never losing sight of the goal.