2000 Miles

Yes, this week (Friday, to be exact) I reached the 2000 mile mark. This is a huge milestone in my training, considering I put just about 3000 miles on my legs over the entirety of last season. At this pace I'll hit 5000 by the end of the year, something that has been a secret goal of mine since the season began. Since American River, I've been trying to keep the miles per week consistently higher and more technical. Here is what I've been up to....

April 12-April 18

M-AM 4 miles, 35 min (Sante Fe Trail)

PM 4 miles, 29 min (Sante Fe Trail)

T- 6 miles, 48 min (Sante Fe Trail)

W-AM 6 miles, 43 min (Sante Fe Trail)

PM 6 miles, 42 min (Sante Fe Trail)

T-AM 6 miles, 40 min (Sante Fe Trail)

PM 6 miles, 42 min(Sante Fe Trail)

F- 12 miles, 97 min (Garden of the Gods)

S- CRUD ~12.5 miles, ~110 min (Rampart to Waldo Canyon)

PM 6 miles, 45 min (Sante Fe Trail)

S-12 miles, 100 min (Barr Trail up to 9K from Memorial)

TOTAL: 80.5 miles, 10 hours 31 min, 7:50 min/mile

April 19-April 25

M-AM 10 miles, 76 min (Garden of the Gods)

PM 6 miles, 44 min (Sante Fe Trail)

T-AM 16-17 miles, 128 min (Garden of the Gods)

W-AM 6 miles, 43 min (Sante Fe Trail)

PM 4 miles, 26 min (Sante Fe Trail)

T-AM 18 miles, 158 min (BARR)

F-AM ~16-17 miles, 132 min (BARR)

S- CRUD 14 miles, 129 min (10" snow @ palmer)

PM 6 miles, 42 min (Sante Fe Trail)

S- 6 miles, 42 min (Sante Fe Trail)

PM 6 miles, 43 min (Sante Fe Trail)

TOTAL: ~110 miles, 14 hrs 23 min, 7:51 min/mile

April 26- May 2nd

M-AM 18 miles, 147 min (Door, GoG, Rampart)

PM 6 miles, 41 min (Sante Fe)

T-AM 6 miles, 42 min (Sante Fe)

PM 14 miles, 102 min (GoG to the SCAR)

W-AM 6 miles, 41 min (Sante Fe)

PM 6 miles, 42 min (Sante Fe)

T-AM 6 miles, 44 min (Sante Fe)

PM 6 miles, 44 min (Sante Fe)

F- 6 miles, 45 min (Sante Fe)

C2 Yoga, 60 min

S- COLLEGIATE PEAKS, 6:52:05 CR

S- 6 miles, 47 min (Sante Fe Trail)

TOTAL: 130 miles

May 3-May 9

M-AM 10 miles, 78 min (GoG)

PM 6 miles, 47 min (Sante Fe)

T-AM 10 miles, 78 min (Sante Fe)

PM 6 miles, 40 min (Sante Fe)

W-AM 15 miles, 123 min (GoG)

PM 6 miles, 42 min (Sante Fe)

T-AM 6 miles, 42 min (Sante Fe)

PM 8 miles, 75 min (SCAR)

F-AM 17 miles, 154 min (713 trail)

PM 4 miles, 27 min (Sante Fe)

S- 22 miles, 214 min (Rampart, Waldo, Long's Ranch, BARR)

S- 19 miles, 166 min (GoG, SCAR)

TOTAL: 129 miles

May 10- May 16

M- 6 miles, 46 min (sick)

T- 6 miles, 41 min (sick)

W-AM 6 miles, 41 min (Sante Fe Trail)

PM 6 miles, 40 min (Sante Fe Trail)

T-AM 10 miles, 66 min (Sante Fe Trail)

PM 6 miles, 41 min(Sante Fe Trail)

F- AM 15 miles, 117 min (High Drive, I hit the 2000 mile mark right as it began to snow at 8200 feet, a miserably cold run actually)

PM 6 miles, 40 min (Intemann)

S- CRUD 18 miles, 183 min (Trail 313)

PM 6 miles, 42 min (Sante Fe Trail)

S- 15 miles, 117 min (GoG)

TOTAL: 100 miles

These last few weeks have been amazing for quite a few reasons.

I've been fortunate enough to have locked down another solid pacer for Western States. This new friend, Brooks Williams, also has quite a gift for finding new trails that offer not only massive vertical gain but a great deal of scenery too. Together we discovered a way to run from Woodland Park to Colorado Springs in about the same time it would take to drive.

I've hit an average of 106 miles per week since January 1st, with recovery and build-up weeks added in. I know that this average will only get higher as the season progresses, and this realization has bumped me up a few notches in the mental game.

And lastly, I broke the course record at the Collegiate Peaks 50 miler while training through the race (6:52:05). This is a sure sign that my fitness has reached a level it has never been before. Below is a picture of Ryan Burch and I at the finish line. Ryan finished with an impressive 3:05. I'm excited to see what he does at Jemez. Hopefully I can make my way out there to be a spectator.

I still have a lot of miles left before the season is over, and quite a few races mixed in there. Next up is the Blue Canyon 100k. This race is 3 weeks out from Western States, and will be a great test to see if my legs can handle the climbs and descents. The 100k has 18k of elevation gain on a 66 mile out-and-back course. My hope is that its also hot so I can get a little bit of acclimation.... seeing as how its snowed here two days ago.

I've noticed quite a few people are posting their favorite tunes on their blogs, so I'd like to follow suit and give you one of my favorite songs to listen to (in the rare event that I run with an Ipod).

Ratatat- Seventeen Years

American River, and unexpected goals

Sorry its taken me so long to write this.  There really isn't a reason for the procrastination, im just lazy.

This race was number one on my list in order of importance.  As I've stated in previous posts, I really wanted to hit a target time of 5:50 to qualify for the selection pool of the 100k world team.

The day before the race I got a chance to see the starting line, as I was staying at the Comfort Inn approximately one mile from the start.  I also jogged/walked about 4 miles around the area to get my legs moving after the car ride from San Francisco.

The next morning, I walked with my parents over to the start and stripped off my sweatshirt and jacket.  As I've been told (and have read on many blogs), this race usually starts out pretty fact.  I'm not sure if its the excitement or simply peoples' preference to go all out on the paved, flat section.  Something about this race makes people shoot out of the starting gate like their ass is on fire.  I had been told to run my own race, and that is what I attempted to do for the first few miles.  Until mile 4 or 5, I was hitting what I thought to be around 6:40 pace.  As I began to converse with two runners next to me, I learned their goal time was sub-7 hours.  This worried me a bit and I gradually increased the pace until my stride was as long as it could be without being labored.

Just as we passed through the first aid station, I met up with Mark Gilligan (founder of Ultrasignup.com) and began to talk with him about nothing in particular.  I also missed my parents.  It turns out they were having trouble not only finding the aid stations, but getting into the parks that charge $10 every time you enter, regardless of how long you stay.  The day was cool and cloudy though, and I didn't need any more gels this early in the race.

After a few more miles I finally caught up with what I thought to be the lead pack.  I found out moments later that this was a chase pack, with ranks 2-8 chasing the leader Michael Buchanan.  He was 4 minutes ahead at the half marathon.  Mark, being the helpful person he is, gave us constant updates on his whereabouts.  As I had predicted, he had just gone out too fast and the pack was gaining ground with every step.

At around mile 20, there was an unexpected uphill and then back to flat ground.  After this section, Geoff Roes had to make a pit-stop, and shortly after that there was about a half mile section of single track.  It was at this point that I made a surge, or I guess just kept the same pace.  Everyone else seemed to slow down a lot (which Anton Krupicka also mentioned about his 2008 race) on the single track section.  The pack also spread out quite a bit, and I ended up gaining about a 200 meter lead on Mike Wolfe and Max King.  I kept this lead until the marathon mark, where I also passed Michael Buchanan, passing the marathon mark in a new PR of 2:46:??.  Coming through the aid station I felt awesome.  Maybe it was just the excitement of taking the lead or the 2X caffeinated gel I took moments earlier.  Most likely it was a mixture of the two.

At this point you venture off of the road to rolling single track.  After less than a mile, it was obvious I had the wrong idea of what rolling single track meant.  I had imagined soft, rolling hills and pristine trails that you often see in California and the Pacific Northwest.  This was a little bit more technical, and also had steeper hills than I had expected.  Not that it really mattered, but as I began to bound up the steep, short and rocky uphills, I started to feel little twitches in my hamstrings.  This was a feeling I've had only once before and I knew that some serious pain was on its way.  Just as I had predicted, on one of the steeper hills I tried to hop over a large rock and my hamstring instantly tightened up to the point where I had to stop and stretch it out.  I then walked for about 30 seconds and tried to run down the hill.  This didn't work so well and I was forced again to stretch it out.  This is the point where Max King ran by and I simultaneously saw my sub-5:50 goal disintegrate.  First to third in a distance of 2 miles.  After about 5 minutes of jog/hobble/walking I made it to the next aid station and gulped down a gel and 3 S! caps.  I new it would only be 20 minutes or so for them to start working, but I had already lost my mental charge from losing two spots.

Here is where I will divert from the race report a bit, and mention something I had learned just before this race.  My mom had mentioned reading the blogs of Tim Parr and Duncan Callahan, and saw their strategy of staying positive even when things look their worst.  This can be done in plenty of ways.  Mine was to just remember why I had come to this race in the first place, all of the miles I had put in, and just to keep my mind focused on the fact that I really love what I'm doing at the moment regardless of how much pain I'm feeling.  To put it succinctly, "Laugh the pain away."

This strategy worked until I could feel the effects of the S! caps, and soon after I was back at 7ish minute pace.  After a few more miles, I could hear the cheers from an aid station, and I realized that I was only 30-45 seconds away from an unknown runner ahead of me.  As I made my way through the station, I switched water bottles with my parents, and then set out to catch the mystery runner holding spot #2.  Mere seconds after the hill next to the aid station, I saw Max walking up the remainder of the hill and this was the point where I knew I had a solid chance for 2nd place.  Geoff was long gone in my mind (and in actuality), but if I could piece together 8 more miles, I was a shoe-in for Western States.  This wasn't my original goal, but it became a driving force in these final miles.

I was still intent upon finishing under  5:50, but as the next corner became an immeasurable distance to the next aid station (the sign said 2.8 miles, but i think it was more like 4), I realized that goal was gone once again.  As the negative thoughts began creeping into my head, I decided to run the race as if Max were nipping at my heels (he very well could have been, in this race its impossible to see more than 100 meters behind you in most places).  This helped my pace, but also caused me to look back about 50 times while climbing up the final 3 miles.  Once the road leveled off I saw Mark again and he started yelling.  I traded shirts with him so I could finally get a picture in an Ultrasingup jersey at the finish line.  Crossing the line, all of the pain and emotion seems to melt away.  You're left with the notion of accomplishment and sheer joy.

Anyway, I think the race went really well despite missing my goal time by 6 minutes.   I still feel there are 6+ minutes out there somewhere on the course, but I'm not losing any sleep over my performance.  Not to say I could have hung on to Geoff for the whole race either.  He is a very strong runner and I'm certain he would have done whatever it took to win the race.

I've been given an opportunity now to run one of the most prestigious and competitive 100 milers in the world, and I think that qualifies as a pretty good consolation prize.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Big Miles Before American River

Here are the last two weeks of running lined up together:

MARCH 15- MARCH 21

M- AM 72 min, 10 miles

T-  AM 63 min, 9 miles

W- AM 91 min, 14 miles @ 6:30 pace

     PM 41 min, 6 miles

T- 140 min, 18 miles

F- AM 43 min, 6 miles

     PM 43 min, 6 miles

S- 115 min, 15 miles

S- 75 min, 11 miles

TOTAL: 95 miles, 11 hrs 23 min, 7:11 min/mile

MARCH 22- MARCH 28

M- AM 66 min, 10 miles

     PM 42 min, 6 miles

T- WORKOUT, AM 8 miles @ 6:40, 8 miles @ 6:30

                      PM 8 miles @ 6:40, 8 miles @ 6:30

Actual:  AM 8 miles (50:38), 8 miles (49:37)

+ 2 mile warmup and 2 mile cooldown (28:12)

PM 8 miles (50:28), 8 miles (50:01)

+ 2 mile warmup and 2 mile cooldown (29:36)

Total speed workout miles: 32

Avg min/mile during workout: 6:16.75

Total miles run: 40

Avg min/mile total: 6:28.09

W- AM 46 min, 6 miles

     PM 44 min, 6 miles

T- AM 89 min, 12 miles

     PM 42 min, 6 miles

F- AM 96 min, 14 miles

     PM 42 min, 6 miles

S- CRUD, 168 min, 17 miles

     C2 Yoga, 75 min

     PM 40 min, 6 miles

S- AM 139 min, 16 miles

     PM 48 min, 6 miles

TOTAL: 151, 18 hrs 42 min, 7:25 min/mile

So, I've been off of the blog for a brief stint.  Mostly, I had nothing to write about.  The week after Salida was a bit boring with mainly recovery miles. This week was quite a bit different.   Originally, I had intended for the weeks to be somewhat similar mileage-wise (somewhere around 130).  But two days after Salida I felt some muscle soreness that told me I might want to back off a little before proceeding to the serious training.  So, after a full week of recovery I was ready to start my last week of high mileage before American River.

This week was not only going to be high mileage, but also quite experimental.  I had been given advice from several people on how to train for this race.  Some said long tempos would do the trick.  Others said high, consistent mileage is the key.  I also heard a few people tell me that quality is the biggest factor.  What I ended up with was a mixture of all three.  

On Monday I decided to get in a solid 16 with my roommate to start off the week well.  There isn't too much to add to that, other than I felt great from the lower mileage week.

Tuesday was a mixture of craziness.  It was my day off of work and I had chosen to do my big workout for that reason.  Seeing that it was warm and sunny outside, I changed my plans a bit to avoid driving to the start of my workout and ended up running 2 miles to warm up.

Once I got to mile marker 31.5 on the Sante Fe Trail, I took off my jacket and knotted it into the handhold on my water bottle, setting it next to the marker.  I had originally wanted to do 

the first of four 8-mile repeats at 6:40 min/mile.  The first mile was on pace, but felt way too comfortable.  I began to lengthen my stride and without much more effort found myself hitting the 2 mile mark at 12:50.  Even though this was much too fast, I still felt great and decided to keep up the effort for the rest of the way, hitting 8 miles in 50:38.  At this point I caught my breath and took a gel and a swig of water.  The next round was a bit faster (49:37) and by the end I was desperate for a drink of water.  Reaching down to my jacket for my water bottle, I noticed it was no longer there.  Someone had actually taken the time to unknot my jacket from the water bottle, and just steal the water bottle.  Cost of jacket: ~ $100.  Cost of water bottle: ~ $22.  This will rack my brain for weeks, months, maybe even years. So, after the second 8-mile jaunt I ran home 2 miles, empty handed, and took an ice bath and a nap to prepare myself

 for the next workout. 

Running back out to the start, I met my friend Harsha at the mile marker.  He was going to run one of the 8 mile time trials with me and it felt great to have some company.  So we set out at a comfortable pace.  However, by the second mile the pace had increased significantly and Harsha's left hamstring was starting to bunch up.  I learned shortly after this that he had already run for 2.5 hours that day.  He told me to go on, and I made my way to the 4 mile turnaround point.  Coming back, I saw Harsha again and he joined me for the last 3 miles or so to the finish.  On the way we met Larry on his bike, and he paced me the entire way back to a time of 50:28.  Setting out north for the last 8 mile split, it began to rain and I tried to stay as close to Larry as I could to avoid the cold rain.  At this point I could feel my body start to become indifferent to the discomfort I was feeling.  I felt the same at 7 minute pace as I did at 6.  As I noticed this, I began to push harder and harder.

By the time we made it to the 4 mile mark, the rain had increased and it was getting windier by the second.  Harsha met us there and I took a quick sip of gatorade before heading back alone.  As I entered the final mile the rain turned into ice pellets and I hammered a 6 flat mile to get to my rain jacket as soon as possible.  I crossed the line in 50:01.  After quickly putting on my jacket and retrieving my water bottle (this one didn't get stolen) I ran home very awkwardly, being pelted by freezing raindrops the entire time.  Being in my apartment for only about 10 minutes, I heard my neighbor exclaim, "HOLY SH*T!!!".  I ran outside, and to my amazement saw a winter wonderland.  About 2 inches of snow had fallen in that short amount of time.  All I could do was laugh.  What an interesting day....

The rest of the week went by very well.  I had a few longish runs on my own and one with CRUD in another blustery, frigid outing.  And to cap off the week, I finished a 16 miler with a new friend named Peter Maksimow.  He is new to the Inov-8 team, and will definitely be a threat this year at Mt. Washington.  Check out his profile here.

Altogether, I think this week went very well.  I managed to rack up a personal record for the amount of miles run, as well as getting in a very solid workout in preparation for American River.  The key points for success were: I had 4 runs that were 1:29:00 or higher, a 40 mile workout, ran 151 miles and scheduled in 7 recovery runs. If I can manage to recover well this week I believe I will be a very dangerous competitor in this race.

Salida

Yesterday was a really fun day.  I got to race against a few really great runners, as well as see a bunch of friends I've made over the last couple of months.  Anyway, here is my report:

The day started off by loading myself into the van of runner friend Harry Harcrow.  He and his wife were kind enough to let me tag along on this adventure, and I was more than happy to ride with someone who'd been to the course before.  On the way I got a detailed course description and some wonderful views of the Collegiate peaks.

Once we arrived, I rushed to slip on my trusty Mizuno Wave Ronins and make my way to sign up for the race.  I was still unsure at this point whether or not I would be able to sign up still, since it was 8:40 already and I'd heard there were limited spots left.  But, the day before I'd told myself I'd just run the course anyway and treat it as a training run.  As I made my way over to the Race Day Registration booth, I saw a few other people lined up and knew that I'd made it.

Harry and I jogged our way over to the starting line, where we ran into a few other CRUD members.  We all exchanged "hello's" and toed the line for the start.  I glanced over to my right and saw everybody I'd mentioned in my last posting huddled into one group.

As we began the race, Tim Parr immediately shot out into the lead, and from that point it was a race for second place.  Don't get me wrong, I made an attempt to keep up, but gave up the fight about 5 miles into the 8 mile uphill.  Doing so sent me into a pretty deep oxygen debt and forced me to even walk up some of the steeper parts to catch my breath.  I also decided to drop my handheld bottle at the 3 mile aid station, which happened to have all but one of my gels stored in it.  BAD MOVE.

With about a mile to go before the top Nick Clark and Dan Vega caught up, and on the next big hill passed me without effort.  At that point, I didn't really care about the rest of the race, I just wanted the hill to be over, and I wanted something to eat!  After the 8 miles of uphill, we then reached the cusp and began a very arduous descent to the turn around.  I was struggling to keep up with Nick and Dan but found it impossible to sustain my knee drive with so much mud sticking to the bottom of my shoes.  I eventually found that running in their footsteps made it a lot easier.  I still didn't gain any ground though, these are two guys that do very well on downhills.  Anyway, as we neared the turn around point I saw Tim coming back the opposite way without so much as a bead of sweat on his forehead.  This actually made me laugh out loud as I thought about my own internal struggle just to keep one foot in front of the other.  I just hoped that the other two guys in front of me didn't look the same way.

At the turn around point I figured I was about 200 meters away from Nick and Dan.  This lead increased as I gulped down 3 glasses of gatorade/water and ate a gel.  But, for the amount of time I wasted, I gained back plenty of energy and decided to see if I could catch the pack.  I probably gained about 100 meters back but slowed down as the climbs became steeper toward the top, and their lead grew as they crested the hill and began to bomb down the other side.  Once again, I found that running in their footsteps was the easiest route, and actually gained a bit of ground on them on the less steep downhill grade back down to the turn-off point.  But, having no gels or water bottle, I had to stop and quickly gulp down some gels and water before making my way up the snow-covered jeep trail.

After about 2-3 miles of attempting to gain ground on Nick and Dan, I'd made my way back to within 100 meters.  At this point I decided to make a surge on the uphills and just let my legs coast on the downs.  This worked really well and I eventually regained my position with the pack.  Shortly after, I cut my way between Nick and Dan, and a few minutes after that began to hear Dan's breath behind me get fainter and fainter.

Nick was still powering up the hills and cruising down.  It was really a struggle to keep up with him, but I felt that I needed to at least give it a try for 2nd place.  I would try to surge up a hill, and he would immediately cover it on the downhill.  I would then try to surge on a downhill and he would surge to avoid me passing him.... a VERY strong competitor.  Talking with Nick afterward, it appears we both had the same thought during this exchange, which was "when is this dude gonna break!"

This continued until the steep and technical downhills where he maintained the lead the whole time.  I was really impressed with how agile he was after the 20+ miles of mud and posthole snow we'd run through.  It was at this point where I had already begun to think of ways to describe how I'd lost to Nick in my blog :) But, just as we were nearing the final stages of the technical downhill, I looked back and saw Ryan Burch about 300 meters behind.  This sent me into a wave of panic and I began to high-tail it all the way back up to Nick.  I said, "Burch is 300 meters behind us".  I think he heard something like "Burch is 3rd blah blah".  Regardless, we both began a mile plus sprint downhill before the road section.  This is where I made a final surge and somehow got away from Nick.  I must have looked back about 20 times in the half mile to the finish because I was so spent.  I don't think I could've covered one more move on his part.

So, as I crossed the finish line the RD called out 3:18:15.  I was a little bit disappointed with my choices at the beginning of the race, but eventually found out that Tim Parr was only 5 minutes ahead (he was most definitely taking it easy).  Overall, I think this was a really good chance to see what kind of guts I had to fight for a position.  Also it was well worth it to get some downhill speed and a chance to compete against some superb athletes.

This is probably going to be an early season race I attend for years to come.

Pre Race Jitters

Here is a look at the last two weeks of mileage heading up to Salida:

MARCH 1- MARCH 7

M- AM 65 min, 10 miles, (hot yoga)

     PM 40 min, 6 miles

T- AM 78 min, 12 miles, (C2 yoga)

     PM 28 min, 4 miles

W- AM 66 min, 10 miles

     PM 40 min, 6 miles

T- AM 71 min, 10 miles (C2 yoga)

     PM 40 min, 6 miles

F- AM 67 min, 10 miles

     PM 41 min, 6 miles

S- AM 189 min, 21 miles 4,665 ft of gain

     PM 46 min, 6 miles

S- AM 36 min, 4 barefoot

     PM 13 min, ~2 miles

TOTAL: 113 miles, 13 hrs 40 min, 7:15 min/mile

MARCH 8- MARCH 14

M- AM 105 min, 15 miles

     PM 43 min, 6 miles

T- AM 49 min, 7 miles

     PM 42 min, 6 miles

W- AM 112 min, 15 miles

     PM 40 min, 6 miles

T- AM 40 min, 6 miles

     PM 40 min, 6 miles

F- 85 min, 12 miles

S- Salida Marathon, TIME:

S- SOLO, __ min, 6 miles + 2 barefoot

TOTAL: 113 miles, 

I didn't realize how much competition would be in this race when I decided to enter a few weeks ago. Actually, I haven't even entered yet, my plan was just to show up.  That should be a sign of how seriously I was taking this event.

I'm not worried about this news, though.  On the contrary, I'm quite excited.  This is going to be a perfect test to see how hard I can push myself before American River.

Some of the competitors (that I know of) are: Timmy Parr, Ryan Burch, Nick Pedatella, and Nick Clark.  Each of them has their own impressive record, and will likely be pushing for the number 1 spot to add to the list.

Similar to my outlook toward signing up for this race, I also have a lack of plan.  The only thing I have in mind is that fact that I probably need to push the pace early on in order to even remotely have a chance at staving off Parr and his impressive speed (Olympics Trials marathoner, 31-flat road 10k), since the last 7 miles or so is all downhill.  Yikes.  Nick Clark and Ryan Burch also seem to have impressive sub-50 miler speed, with Burch running a 3:11 last year, and Nick having a few early CR's this year.

Needless to say, this will be an exciting race to take part in, as well as being a great tune up for my main goal this year.

Mizuno Breath Thermo

I have been wear-testing this new line of gear from Mizuno this entire winter and have been very impressed with the results.

Since the middle of December, I have worn both the Breath Thermo upper and tights in many different conditions and have never had a bad thing to say about them.  Simply put, this is the best cold weather gear I have ever owned.

Tights: While many other brands of tights consist of a thin layer of spandex and a pocket for your key, Mizuno tights are lined with the company's patented Breath Thermo layer.  This not only keeps you warmer, but also gives the tights a soft feel that never chafes.  One might think that with an extra layer added into the tights that they might bind or restrict movement when lengthening stride. I have never experienced such a problem, having worn these while doing tempo runs on flat roads and extended hill climbs up steep mountain trails. I can honestly say that I've run close to 600 miles in these tight since December, and have been comfortable and content for every single one of them.  Great tights!

Fleece 1/2 Zip:  This is a garment I have worn for about 60 days consecutively, whether I am running or relaxing, inside or outside.  This piece of gear, more so than the tights, responds to the surrounding environment. Okay not literally, but its loose fit allows for more thermoregulation.  It heats your body with the thermo technology, but is loose enough to allow air flow.  On colder days (especially when its windy) you can combine this with a with a jacket layer and you'll stay toasty warm.  Once again, this is a product I've used in varied conditions and the only place I've found it uncomfortable is in temperatures above 50 degrees (when its not needed).

Overall, I am ecstatic to have found such a great set of winter gear to run in.  In my opinion, nothing that can compare to the Breath Thermo technology when it comes to battling the cold.

Now, I'm off to find a pair of Breath Thermo gloves! 

Good Week

I've finally gotten back on track with the mileage this week.

Last week was somewhat of a disaster, considering I was attempting to recover from a 50K and battling some sort of stomach virus/food poisoning at the same time.  It seemed that every time I would try to pick up my normal routine of ~16 miles a day, my body would fight back and I would spend another day being completely exhausted.  So, the weekly total was 72 hard-fought miles.

This week was a very different story.  Here is a log of my miles:

FEB 22- FEB 28

M- AM 69 min, 10 miles

     PM 45 min, 6.5 miles

T- AM 111 min, 14 miles

     PM 43.5 min, 6.5 miles

W- AM 66 min, 10 miles

     PM 66 min, 10 miles

T- AM 40 min, 6 miles

     PM 41 min, 6 miles

F- 67 min, 10 miles

S- AM 95 min, 12 miles

    PM 70 min, 10 miles

S- SOLO, __ min, 14 miles (still to come)

TOTAL: 115

Although I haven't quite finished out the week, I only need 14 more miles to complete my goal of 115 miles.  My body once again feels whole, and every run this week left me feeling stronger and more confident than the last.

Today was the best run yet.  For the last 6 weeks or so, I've been waking up every Saturday at 6:30 a.m, eager to go for a run.  This is because of the group I've been running with, C.R.U.D.  Although I don't get to run with C.R.U.D as much as I used to with the Trail Nerds, I still feel the same cohesiveness and friendliness from everyone who is in the group.  Good folks!  So this morning, I was running a bit late, but soon caught up to an unusually small group of Crudders crossing the train tracks to make their way up to the Falcon Trail.  I was glad to see Rick, Paul, Tara, and John (whom I'd met only last week) all with smiles on their faces.  We hit the trail and instantly there were 5 inches of fresh snow under every footfall.  This made running a bit sketchy at times, but very easy on the legs.  And I think the thing I remember most was how quickly the twelve miles went by, and how bummed I was that the run was over.  I can't really recall the last time I felt that way.  Luckily, the day wasn't over, as Tara and John invited Paul and I to attend a yoga class.  I'll omit the details, but will say that it kicked my ass and I can't wait to go back.

Overall, this week was awesome. I'm back on track with mileage and I wake up every day excited to get stronger and faster.  2 weeks until Salida Marathon!