Monday; May 16: Well, this is a fine start to the week since I took the day off from running! Just needed it after Sunday's effort. No real aches or pains but definitely some fatigue happening in the legs.
Tuesday; May 17: Down to the basement for an early weight lifting session and then out the door...solo...lazy boy was sleeping in !
Nothing exciting here...just a basic 12 miler that went well. These are often called "filler" runs since there is not much distance and no real meaningful hill or speed work. The benefits gained are miles run (often on tired legs), time on the feet, and of course, the pure joy of running.
Unfortunately for Traysen, he missed these guys:
Red Tailed Hawk. We have one that hangs out in the meadows near the end of the driveway.
An aberts squirrel.
Wednesday; May 18: A good outing with Traysen for 8 miles with 5 "pick ups" or more like a fartlek type run on the hills around the house. After the big boy was done, I went out for a couple more miles with hill repeats on Vicki's driveway. It was very easy to feel that the legs are quite tired right now. That's ok since it is the cumulative effect of running 160 miles over the past two weeks. This week should top out around 85+ miles and then next week is a recovery week. Dealing with tired legs or an overall tired feeling is part of the training for ultras. One of the key factors is to determine what is basic fatigue and what is burnout or injury.
Thursday; May 19: A slow start put the ole bones at Mueller at 645am! Nevertheless, off I went on what was supposed to be about 15 miles or 3 hours, whichever came first. The first hour and a half went well but then I fizzled! Just no pep in the step so I was able to practice some of that run then walk a bit then run then walk a bit. So, it was the 3 hours that came first and a quick analysis revealed a mere 10 miles. Just one of those sloppy run days.
On the bright side, Mueller was in rare form this morning. With yesterday's rain/snow mix, there was a light fresh layer of snow on the trails and throughout the woods, which made for a soft and smushy romp. Within the first few minutes, I passed over turkey tracks in the snow, heard numerous birds, saw a few "common" residents of the woods...squirrels, rabbits, and a few deer. However, the following pics show a few more varmits that crossed the path this morning:
Several of these guys live all over Teller County, CO. We are blessed that many of them hang out in Mueller where they are 100% protected.
These three ladies were wandering through a meadow, munching on bugs, grass or ? Oddly enough, they knew I was very close by but did not high tail it to the woods.
Way too cute fella, searching for mice?
Same mission as the above fox! This particular guy looked very healthy with a full coat.
And then there was this undetermined species! Known to run hither and yon for long distances....claimed to have a very hard head and not an ounce of common sense!
Friday; May 20: A day to remember! Jim Case has put up with the above "undetermined species" for 11 years! And how are we celebrating? Well, I am running and Jim is working. Oh seriously, we have learned to celebrate on whatever day it works with the schedules. I appreciate all Jim does for us and truly value his care, support, and love.
As for the working out today: Savanna (youngest mini dachshund) and I were in the basement by 5am for a weight lifting session of abs, chest, and biceps. Traysen joined us just before we finished so he was alive for the start of the running portion. Off we went for an easy 8 miler of a tempo run , where the highlight was listening to the meadowlarks. After dropping the big boy off at the house, it was a cross country romp through the neighbor's property. These little outings are not only fun, but they force me to pick up the feet. So, a nice 11 miler.
Saturday; May 21: Many of the Team CRUD folks are running a very difficult 50 miler today, the Jemez 50. Here's hoping they all did well.
An early start sent me to Mueller State Park. This place is amazing at 545am..no cars, no people, no noise...just me n the varmits. Oddly enough there is a small herd of deer that hang out at the visitor center and have greeted me several times. Nevertheless, off I went on my usual routing on trail numbers 4, 6, 1, and then down the closed trail to 18, 20, 1, 6, 4 ....and back to the visitor center. (You gotta look at the map to know where those trails go.) http://parks.state.co.us/SiteCollectionImages/parks/Parks/Mueller/MuellerNewTrailMap.pdf
Lynne and Lori had driven up and were ready at 8am sharp....after quick good mornings, I asked, "are you guys up for an adventure?" Both agreed and off we went.....onto trail number 3....Now, I knew the adventure would involve hills since that is all there is in Mueller, however, very soon we realized we had stumbled onto the biggest, baddest, steepest, lung busting hills in Mueller! Cussing myself, we slogged up these monsters, huffing n puffing like three steam engines! An interesting note is that Lori is just coming off of a sidelining bout with plantar fascitis that has kept her from running for a few months! And she had just spent the last week on the east coast! She did great and I don't think she was bashing ole Sarah too much.
Lori hung with us a while longer and then Lynne and I took off for more hilly fun....one of which was the long climb on the Cheesman Tr. Running that bad boy nonstop, we trotted a ways on the road before parting company with me peeling off onto the dirt and Lynne heading back to the visitor center. That last bit on the trail was an easy jog to round the day out at 22 miles.
More on Lori's injury: Her case of the dreaded PF was quite painful, requiring various forms of rehab and NO running! She did all the right things and is now slowly working herself back up to her former level of fitness. (Lori has run an assortment of marathons and a few ultras and at the time of the injury she was running steadily with the Sunrise Strider group for speed work.) For some folks this would be the time to give in to age and injury and fall into the category of "I used to run/exercise But....." It takes quite a bit of mental will power to resume running after an extensive layoff. There is the pain of bringing yourself back up to the comfortable level you once were since the body is now conditioned to not put forth considerable effort. Also, after an extensive layoff, our minds have usually found several other "more important" activities such as sleeping in! So, coming back from an injury is often as much of a mental effort as a physical effort. Now, there are situations which warrant hanging up the running shoes, but these are often extreme and hopefully a person can find another form of exercise.
Lori is a true runner and will work herself back to where she was before the PF took over. And Lori...I promise not to take you trail number 3 in Mueller until you are kicking my behind once again!!!! Which will be soon!
Sunday; May 22: The hard head was determined to blaze up/down Barr Trail today for another 22 miler, but some "issues" came up which forced the run from the front door of home. The good news is that the 22 miler went very well, was done on dirt, on hills at 8500' to 9000". So, while not exactly what was hoped for, the run happened and it was a good strong effort. The other good news is that by running from home, my four legged running partner, Traysen, was able to join for 9 miles of the run.
Summary: An amazing week of running!!! The second highest mileage week of all time at 87.0 miles!
Total for the year is 1223.0. A reasonably good quality week: some hill repeats, two long runs, a few days of "filler" miles, and 2 weight lifting sessions.
With all the miles, the body/head are a bit "worn".....the key is to determine when you are tired, when you are injured or when you are burned out. And then once you figure which is the issue, then you can make adjustments and correct what is not working. In this case, it is a matter of being basically extra tired from all the miles. It is not burnout because each day I cannot wait to get out the door for a run. And it is not injury...no real aches or pains that are constant or of concern. A simple case of many, many miles and the body and head needing to pull the efforts back a bit and allow for some recovery. To continue without a reduction/recovery would lead to the burnout and the injury. This coming week will provide the reduction in mileage but yet hopefully I can continue with the speed work efforts.
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