Definitely need to try to get the long runs in outside and save the treadmill for the shorter midweek runs.

Got in 20 miles for the first week without any issues.

A couple minutes prior to the gun, I took my spot towards the back half of the pack and waited for the herd to start moving.  I think I went out too fast as I was picking off scores of people up until the top half of the first climb.  My heart was racing and I was reduced to a walk to finish the first big climb.  Once it leveled out on the road to the overlook, I slowed the pace and continued on to the turnaround.  I got a quick swig of water and headed back.  I had visions of running sub 30 but knew it wasn’t to be when I made the turn at 17:30.  Not wanting to let the dream fade, I made decent time to the hill and then went flying down the big incline that had kicked me in the ass a few minutes earlier.  About halfway down the hill, I glanced down at my watch to see I was moving at a decent 6:46 pace.  However, once gravity was no longer on my side, I realized the tank was empty and coasted in for a 31:33 (31:15 watch time) finish.  Not terribly impressive but it was nice to sweat out the beer from the night before at least.

Looking forward to doing nothing tomorrow and resting up for some big mileage this weekend.  Looks like the weather could be nasty on Sunday so that one might be on the ‘mill.

This week marks the start.  I got my first run done at the Jack Quinn’s Running Club Tuesday night run and then did 5 miles on the treadmill at the gym on Wednesday morning.  Nothing spectacular for pace at this point but I’m just trying to get the miles in for the first few weeks.  I waffled about which race I was going to run at this morning’s Rescue Run but settled on the short course since I was only on the hook for three miles today.

The shins are already starting to bother me a little but I’m hoping that healthy doses of Vitamin I and ice will keep them from flaring up too much.

My wife gave me a Garmin Forerunner 305 for Christmas so I’ve been having fun geeking out with the results from the few runs I’ve brought it along on.

Tomorrow will be a much needed rest day and then I’ve got a 5 miler on Saturday and an 8 mile long run on Sunday.

Here’s to hoping I can get most of the runs in and life doesn’t get in the way too much.

Once we got out to the river, we found ourselves on a concrete bike path which I wasn’t terribly thrilled about.  Luckily there was some single track off the the side that I ran on.  We neared a little nature center and restaurant on the river where an aid station was set up.  I grabbed a couple swallows of Gatorade and pulled a Gu out.  After the aid station it was a pretty flat run up next to a little bluff.  It opened up into the “canyon” and followed the river almost all the way to the dam.  About 5 or 6 miles into the race, I started thinking how easy the race had been so far.  I wasn’t exactly setting any speed records, but I felt I had maintained a comfortable pace and ran a smart race.  I quickly told myself not to get too carried away with those thoughts; I was sure it wouldn’t be that easy for the entire distance.

As we neared the dam, more and more return runners were coming towards me.  I thought I was getting close to the turnaround, but it was still a ways off.  Once I hit the final outbound aid station, I started feeling a little sluggish and noticed a twinge in my left achilles.  It started to get difficult to maintain a solid pace.  I would feel myself slow way down and then have to talk myself into picking it up until a certain landmark or spot on the course.  This cycle repeated for the next couple miles.  When I approached 10 miles in, the head games started.  I really wanted to walk for a bit, but at the same time, I knew that it would be that much harder to start running again if I did.  I pushed on through mile 10.  I kept looking for short stretches where I would tell myself I could take a quick walk break only to keep running through them.  This pattern repeated itself until I got to the bottom of the hill leading back into City Park with about .2 miles remaining.

Like most hills, it didn’t seem bad going down, but it was brutal looking back up.  I took a few strides on the way up and my calves quickly knotted up.  Even walking I could feel my hamstrings started to lock up as I made my way up the hill.  Once I got to the top, I managed to find a real slow run and jogged it in until the final turn for home.

I was pretty sore immediately after the race.  I grabbed some Gatorade and then laid on the ground for a few minutes and had my wife stretch my legs.  That did wonders to at least make me mobile, but it didn’t take long for the outside edge of my right foot to start hurting so much that I was convinced I broke it.  Between the achilles on my left leg and the right foot, I hobbled around for a couple days but both of those issues seem to have taken care of themselves.  Looking forward to running this weekend between snowboarding and studying for finals.

Planning on running the PPRR Rescue Run on New Years Day, the PPRR Winter Series (long?), and then start focusing on full marathon training for Colfax I think. (yes, I’m crazy!)

Followed Bucky around Section 16 last Friday and I could tell that I hadn’t been focusing on hills much lately but after the brutal first climb, the downhill was a nice treat.

I toyed with the idea of running the PPRR Pony Express 15 miler but just didn’t feel I was quite ready to run/hike that.  I’ve continued to battle the same shin issues that plagued me last spring on and off but not anywhere near as severe.  I think I’ve finally built up a base over a sustained period of time that the soft tissue on the posterior of my shins has gotten used to the abuse.

In October, the PPRR Fall Series kicked off and I ran the first two of those races.  I missed the next two for weekend trips, but felt pretty good about the way those races went.  Later in the month, Josh talked me into showing up for Jack Quinn’s Running Club on Tuesday nights and I’ve been running down there every week since.

About the same time, the mention of the Rock Canyon Half Marathon in Pueblo came up and I started training for that as well.  With about two more weekends left to train for that, I’ve got a couple of decent long runs planned to hopefully get me ready for the half on Dec 6.

After the first of the year, I’m pretty stoked about running the Rescue Run on New Year’s Day and then the PPRR Winter Series.  With the Incline Club starting up workouts pretty quick too, I’ll probably be joining those crazies for some cold weather Sunday runs as well.

PS - hi bucky.

Made it to No Name in 1:31 from the park.  Not great but that doesn’t put me too far off pace to get under 5 hours for the full ascent.  Made it back down to the cog in around 30 minutes and we ended up walking to rest of the way to the park.  My legs, hips, back, shoulders, and even abs were totally trashed yesterday.  Feel a little better today but glad that I was able to make it up that far at a decent pace.  We caught a break with the cool weather on Saturday but I don’t think we will be as lucky as we get into July.  I’m gonna try to get at least 4 more trips up on the bottom half and then spend one day on the summit before tapering.  I think I can gain more on the bottom half than I can on the top.

Gonna try again this weekend to go to Bob’s Rd or the 7.5 to go sign.   Hope I can get enough quality time in on the mountain to improve over last year.