Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow

Canyonlands 5-miler

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Location:

Fort Collins,CO,

Member Since:

May 15, 2003

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

Unaided PR's:
5K: 14:48 (Track - 2001)
10K: 30:45 (Track - 2001)
10K: 31:32 (Bolder Boulder - 2013)
Half Marathon: 1:06:09 (Duluth - 2013)
Marathon: 2:17:54 (Grandma's) - 2014)
Marathon: 2:19:47 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2013)
Marathon: 2:19:49 (Indianapolis Monumental - 2010)

Aided PR's:
10K: 29:38 (Des News - 2011)
Half Marathon: 1:05:30 (TOU Half - 2011)
Marathon: 2:18:09 (St George - 2007)
Marathon: 2:17:35 (Boston - 2011)

Short-Term Running Goals:

Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis in June of 2008. Started taking Enbrel in March, 2009.

Run as much as I can, and race as well as I can. Make the most of however much time I have left as an able-bodied runner.

Training for the 2018 Colorado Marathon

Long-Term Running Goals:

  Run until I'm old, and then run some more. Stand tall.

Personal:

1 wife, 2 kids. 1 cat. Work as a GIS Specialist/Map Geek

Endure and persist; this pain will turn to your good. - Ovid

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. - Romans 5:1-5

 

 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Saucony Trail Shoe Lifetime Miles: 247.50
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Saucony Kinvara 6 Lifetime Miles: 433.50
Saucony Kinvara 6-2 Lifetime Miles: 358.75
Brooks Pure Connect Blue Lifetime Miles: 337.25
New Balance Trainers Lifetime Miles: 314.50
New Balance 1400 Racers Lifetime Miles: 65.00
Brook Pureflow Lifetime Miles: 99.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
34.005.000.000.0012.0051.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
4.000.000.000.000.004.00

Ran the dog around the block in the morning, then ran the Planet Walk in the early afternoon. It was a nice day today, and I busted out the new shorty shorts. The shorty shorts gave me a burst, and I was averaging close to 6:50 pace when I got to the Planet Walk. It scared me to run this fast, plus I wanted to save Benjamin's PR for next Saturday, so I turned off the "jets" for the remainder of the run. Average 8:00/mile for the run.

I hope to do a lot of short doubles this week, and use doubling as a way to build my mileage without putting strain on the body. We'll see how it goes. 

Comments(4)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.000.000.000.003.009.00

AM - 3 miles real easy. 8:30/mile average. Felt "beh". It's hard to get going in the morning.

PM - ran with Jon and Cody through River Heights to the gym. Today was Pizza Monday at the gym, and I ate 4 pieces of pizza, sea-level equivalent to 4.5 pieces of pizza. Other than eating, I did 15 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the bike. Then lifted weights:

  • 2x15 bench press @ 115 lbs
  • 1x25 arm curls @ 20 lbs
  • 1-minute leg press @ 115 lbs
  • 2x12 adductors @ 90 lbs
  • 2x12 abductors @ 90 lbs
Ran home. 

********

time to resurrect the fabulous custom shoe counter. First, I need to calibrate where I left off:

(Elite: 208 miles)

(Adrenaline: 80 miles)

(Axiom: 15 miles)

(Tangent: 15 miles)

(Triax: 425 miles)

Comments(8)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.000.000.000.003.009.00

AM - ran to gym, did 15 minutes on the arc trainer and 15 minutes the bike, and then 1.25 miles on the treadmill at 7:30-8:00 pace. Then did 12 chipups, 2x10 4-way hip @ 80 lbs, and 2x20 lunges with 10 lbs weights.

(Triax: 428 miles)

PM - 3 miles on Planet Walk. 7:17, 7:27, 7:24 (22:08).

(Adrenaline: 83 miles)

Comments(8)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.000.000.000.003.009.00

AM - 3 miles slow and easy.

(Elite: 211 miles)

PM - ran to the gym via River Heights, then did 20 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes on the bike. Followed up with pumping iron:

  • 1x30 arm curls @ 20 lbs
  • 2x12 shoulder press @ 90 lbs
  • 2x12 adductors @ 90 lbs
  • 2x12 abductors @ 90 lbs
  • 1 minute leg press @ 120 lbs (42 reps)
  • 1 minute single-leg press @ 60 lbs (just right leg)

Ran home.

(Axiom: 18 miles)

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.000.000.000.003.009.00

AM - Ran to the gym, then did 15 minutes on the elliptical , 15 minutes on the arc trainer, and 10 minutes running on the treadmill. Then

  • 2x10 bench press @ 125 lbs
  • 2x10 4-way hip @ 80 lbs
  • 2x20 lunges @ 12 lbs

Ran home.

(Triax: 431 miles)

PM - Ran the Planet Walk with Cody (3 miles). Put the hammer down. 6:52, 6:45, 6:57. I'm not sure if that qualifies as a tempo run these days or not.

(Tangent: 18 miles)

Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
6.000.000.000.000.006.00

AM - easy 3 miles in Logan, 8:50/mile pace. Leave to Moab in a few minutes...

(Adrenaline: 86 miles)

PM - easy 3 miles from the Pack Creek Ranch cabin in the La Sal Mnts with Cody, Ben, and Dave. Very pretty area.

(Axiom: 21 miles)

Comments(2)
Race: Canyonlands 5-miler (5 Miles) 00:31:10, Place overall: 7, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
0.005.000.000.000.005.00

Today I ran the Canyonlands 5-mile race. I originally signed up for the half marathon back in December, but that was no longer an option due to my injury, so it swapped it out for the 5-miler. I wasn't certain if I'd even run the 5-mile race, but decided to give it a go by Friday. Basically my goals were to go out there, get in a race atmosphere, enjoy myself, be conservative and don't hurt anything, and keep the pace under 7:00/mile. But I really wasn't sure what to expect.

We got a good morning for the race: overcast with temperatures in the mid-40s. Not much wind, just an occasional weak headwind, but nothing of consequence. I hung out with Bethany before the race, and we warmed up by hiking along the little trail at the staging area. On the way back, we bumped into Brent and Sylvia, and chatted with them until it was time to get back and discard our warmup clothes. Didn't bother with strides or any jogging.

I started about three rows back, and spent the first mile of the race dodging and weaving through little kids, and worked my way up to the top 10 by the mile marker. My pace felt incredibly easy, and I was quite surprised to see 5:xx for my lap pace when I glanced at my garmin. It didn't feel a whole lot harder than those 9-minute miles I've been chunking lately. Thank goodness for race-day magic! For those who don't believe in race-day magic, shame on you. The garmin was off on the first mile due to spotty coverage in the canyon, but I went through the mile marker in 6:03. The garmin seemed about right the rest of the race.

There was a school from Shiprock, NM at the race, and all the young bucks were dressed in blue singlets and lined up in a row ahead of me. Some of the weaker members of the pack started to fall off during the second mile, and fed my appetite for roadkill. The main hill of the race (mile 9 of the half marathon), is much much easier in the 5-miler, I discovered, and even looks quite a bit smaller than I remember. Definitely helps to hit it during the second mile. I passed the last of the easy Shiprock roadkills on the hill (after getting bored with drafting), and then just tried to relax on the downhill. Second mile was 6:05.

After two miles, I was in 7th place, and that's where I stayed the rest of the race. There were about three guys not too far off from me, but they never really came back. For the rest of the race I focused on just trying to stay even and relaxed. I decided that 6-minute miles would be a good mid-race goal, and stuck to that. Third mile was 6:10.

I got out of the canyon and popped out on Hwy 191. This is by far the worst part of the half marathon, but again, was far easier and less grueling in a 5-mile race. Still, I was glad to see that yellow "Denny's" sign that symbolizes the turn-off of the highway. It was also the 4-mile mark: 6:05.

My hamstring felt no pain during the first mile, and then just slight twinges the rest of the race. During the last mile I decided that it felt stable enough to turn it on a little bit, so I tried to pick it up for the finish, and still stay relaxed. The last mile ended up at 5:47, and the garmin was reporting 5:3x at times, so I felt pretty good about that. Final finish time was 30:10 (although for some reason the web results have me 29:59).

I ended up 7th overall, and won my age group (since it was all college kids ahead of me). Due to coming back from injury, it actually felt pretty darn good to win my age group and come home with some hardware. It was a big confidence-booster to hit sub-6 pace at times and it have it feel very comfortable. In some ways, the race felt like tinman-tempo or marathon pace in effort, although my breathing is still a little labored, and my calves and ankles haven't yet adapted to pounding and harder running, so those got sore too. So I feel like my base fitness is there, and that this is a good stepping stone.

After the race, I met up with Stacy, and we watched Bethany finish, then got some coffee, and then watched everyone finish the half marathon. I took a lot of photos of everyone I could with Dave's camera, and hopefully some of them turned out well. I will post them later in the week when we get them uploaded.

All-in-all, a great weekend; time well spent with good friends. The cabin we rented was AWESOME, and we all had a good time.

My hamstring got a little bit sore after the race, but feel pretty good today (Sunday). I don't think I'll have any lingering effects from the race, and the hammie seems to be responding well to small levels of stress. Tomorrow will tell for sure.

(Axiom: 24 miles)

Comments(11)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesCrosstraining milesTotal Miles
34.005.000.000.0012.0051.00
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