Treadmill

4 miles 45:45
10:00 am
Mile 1 walking 15% @ 4.0-4.2
Mile 2 running 7% @ 7.0
Mile 3 walking 15% @ 4.0-4.3
Mile 4 running 7% @ 7.0-7.5
Hard workout for me at this point in my fitness. Kind of starting
from scratch. Going to be doing a lot of these kinds of workouts
So I can practice my hiking skills for Leadville 100.

On my diet note I'm pretty much 100% Vegan. I like the way I feel
eating a plant based diet. My weight without really trying is several pounds
lower than when I was eating meat. I am sitting at around 138.

Looking ahead

Looking at 2016 I have a exciting new sponsor. Runners Roost Trail & Ultra Race team MUT.
It's going to be a busy year. With my main focus being a 100 mile trail race. The plan is
to enter the Leadville 100 lottery next month.
I have been in rest mode the past month after doing my last marathon for the year in Maine.
It was far from my best marathon as the build up just didn't go well. I had too many miles
on my legs from my busy trail and ultra season.
I'm going to start building my base back up starting this week. It will be a slow build up.
With it getting a bit more serious come January.

Pikes Peak Greenway

12 miles 1:23:21 6:58 average per mile
7:00 am)
Beautiful morning for a run with Justin. It did get a bit warm. Was thankful
for the early start. Legs felt heavy and tired. I wore the heart rate strap for first
time in ages. I was curious to see what it would be. I found it to be pretty
consistent in the 138-142 range. This coming week will look to run a bit more.
I need to build the mileage back up, if I'm going to run well in October.
Avg. HR  137
Max. HR 148
Avg. cadence 181
Avg. stride length 1.28 m
Elevation gain 282
Elevation loss 285

Barr Trail

11.5 mile 1:57:00
8:45 am) sunny warm
First time running Barr trail in probably 2 years! It was very busy today.
Lots of traffic from the incline nation. This is the big reason I avoid Barr
trail. I'm not a fan. Went up to no name creek then I hit the trail just to
the left. Not sure the name of it. It's a old service road for the utility
company. I took this till the pipeline bridge. Going back down Barr was
a nightmare. Tons of hikers to get around.
It's now time to turn my focus to road running again. Im doing MDI in
October. That's Mount Desert Island in Maine. This will be my last
marathon for 2015. I have already had a busy year. I have run 2 marathons,
1 50k and 2 50 milers. Not bad for a old guy:)

Pikes Peak Ultra 50 miler

50 miles 9:23 2nd place
10,600 + vertical gain
Had a great day in the mountains. Very tough course with lots of climbing.
I was in 4th place for the early miles as I went out a little conservative,
knowing it was going to be a long day. I moved into second place just
after 20 miles where I stayed the rest of the day. This was a great event
put on by madmooseevents.com. Well organized, great course markings,
well stocked aid stations and friendly volunteers.
I'm still eating vegetarian. This was my first race as a vegetarian so I was
a bit nervous how it would effect my performance. I think my result
speaks for itself.
Wore Hoka Huakas for the entire 50 miles. Not really the best traction
shoes for technical trails but everything else about them rocks.

Eating vegetarian!

While reading Scott Jurek's book eat & run I have been inspired to try eating

vegetarian. I have been a meat eater my entire life so this is quite the big

leap for me. Bethany and I are on day 12 without any meat. We have learned

to eat many more types of foods. We even had tacos with the meat like 

substance being walnuts with green lentils blended in the food processor.

We have made are own snacks as well. We make delicious Lara bars that

taste as good or better than the store bought ones. I have pretty much 

eliminated processed foods from my diet. Im eating super clean by my

standards. I'm still eating eggs and dairy so definitely not going Vegan.

My weight is right at 140 and I feel great. Im excited to see what the

longer terms benefits will be. 

Pikes Peak Ultra course training

14.83 miles 2:45 11:04 average per mile
3771 elevation gain
Ran some of the course today. It's going to be hard! I still have yet to summit
the 2 highest peaks on this course, Mount Rosa and Amalgre. The down that
I ran today will be punishing on race day with tired legs. This 50 miler will
be epic!