Mesa Rd. & Mesa Valley Trails

7 Miles 55:01 7:51 average per mile
2:45 pm) low 60's Sunny!
Explored some more new trails. Took it easy didn't worry about
pace. Okay week. Got a track work out in a race and got my
miles up a bit 58.4. Race was a disappointment but will learn from
it. Goal is to keep building my base. I will do another short
race or two yet this year plus a half marathon in December.

B/A10/107

Creepy Crawl 5k & Hike up Barr Trail

15.5 Miles total
1 mile warm up
3.1 5k 20:19 3rd Overall 9:00 am) sunny low 50's
12:00 pm) 60's Hiked/Run with friend from WI.
11.5 Miles Up Barr Trail to Barr Camp and back down.

So I did my first 5k of the year and first one at altitude 7200 ft.
I really had a terrible race. I started out too fast for my current
fitness. First mile was 5:50 and I was totally winded after that
mile 2 was 6:27 and slowed even more at mile 3 6:35. Lots of work
to do. I need to work on speed and endurance!

Afternoon hiked up the some of the Incline and over to Barr Trail.
Dan and I went up to Barr Camp before heading down. We stopped
in and met the care takers. Very nice people! A husband and wife
take care of Barr Camp. Interesting story they are both ultra
runners having run many 100 mile races.

Mesa Valley Trails

4 Miles 30:35 7:38 average per mile
2:30 pm) Upper 70's WARM! LOVE IT!
Ran on these trails Wednesday night for the first time. Wanted
to go back and run them again in the day light. Lots of trails
here going off in all directions. Not sure how many miles of
trails are here. Today was not the day to run a lot of miles.
I'm doing a 5k in the morning. Next week will do a longer run
here. This is very close to my apartment 1.4 miles. So very
handy for me. I will run to the trail head next time. Weather
was fantastic! I was actually pretty warm but didn't mind at
all I will take all the warm days I can.

Pueblo Track

9.5 Miles
Went down to Pueblo with Rich for a track workout. My first in
Colorado. The track is at 4800 ft. so a bit lower than the 6200ft
I live at. We did 2 mile warm up. We did 2 sets of 600-400-200.
600-1:59, 400-77, 200-35
600-1:59, 400-76, 200-34
I felt pretty good except for the first 600 I think my system
went in shock from the faster than normal turn over.
After the workout we did a 5 mile easy run on some nice trails.

B/Launch/68

Colorado Running Company

7-8 Miles around 1 hour.
6:00 pm) low 40's chilly
Finally met Brooks tonight. Ran with him, Shawn and others.
We took a new route tonight that was awesome. It's actually
very close to my apartment but I didn't know about it. I will
be back soon to explore it more.
Not sure on mileage or time tonight. I stopped my watch
briefly at 4 miles and forgot to restart my watch.

B/A10/100

Waldo Canyon

7 Miles 1:05:00
1:00 pm) mid 40's cool & windy
Took Rich on a tour of Waldo Canyon. He had never run it
before. I think he was impressed with the course. It really
has it all steep climbs, fast sections, sharp switch backs,
technical spots, great views of Pikes Peak. It's a great
place to run!

Trinity Brewing Company

8.39 Miles 1:13:00 8:42 average per mile
6:00 pm) low 40's windy cold!
Small turnout tonight. The weather was pretty bad. Today was
very windy and a cold front came through and it's cold. Later
in the week looks like a nice warm up. Saturday is going to
be low 70's! I am doing a 5k Saturday so that will be nice
weather for it.

B/A10/92

Treadmill

2 Miles 16:15
11:45 am)
Decided to check out the health club at my apartment club house.
They have two treadmills, a few ellipticalls and some weights.
The first treadmill I tried didn't work. So I ran on the older
treadmill. I only went two miles just to try it out. At exactly
two miles the power went out. Good timing I was just going to
hit the stop button.
Working on my 2011 Race Schedule. I will probably add or make
changes to it.
These are for sure though
May 15 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon
June 12 Garden of the Gods 10 Miler
July 17 Barr Trail Mountain Race
August 22 Pikes Peak Marathon
October 2 Bear Chase Trail Run 50K

Manitou Incline & Barr Trail

A Little bit of snow on Pikes Peak

Some of my running shoes I'm currently using. Ordered another pair last night because I'm getting low.

4.61 Miles 54:00
12:15 pm)partly sunny 50's
Second best time on the incline 26:54 only 6 seconds off my best.
I'm happy with the time I have not done the incline in at least
3 weeks and coming off a marathon.

4.11 Miles 32:43 7:58 average per mile
7:00 pm) upper 40's
Full Moon Run. We ran into the Garden of the Gods and back.
After wards had food and snacks. Good run in the dark! They
do this run only once a month. My first time running it.

B/A10/83

Bear Creek Park

6 Miles 46:36 7:45 average per mile
4:30 pm) low 50's cloudy
First time I have run here. Not sure what took me so long to
run here. It's only 3.2 miles from my apartment. Good trails
and ran on some nice single track.
Ran in my New Balance 100's. I like these shoes a lot. I like
the fact you can run long runs in them. I have used them for
a trail marathon and a 50k with no problems. They recently
updated the shoe to 101's. I should buy another pair of the
100's before there all gone.

My place to Garden of the Gods & back

10 Miles 1:09:02 6:54 average per mile
1:30 pm) partly sunny 50
This was a hard run! I felt pretty bad for most of it yet I
pushed the pace for some reason. I need to listen to myself
better just last night I said I would take it easy the rest
of the week. My stomach didn't feel great. I don't think I
gave my lunch enough time to digest. Good news is I feel
I'm recovering very fast from the marathon.

B/LAUNCH/63

Colorado Running Company

6.88 Miles 49:23 7:11 average per mile
6:00 pm) 60's Warm!
Feeling pretty good. Not too sore anymore. Legs still feel
heavy though. I'm really looking forward to building my
mileage up but trying to be smart and let my body recover
first. I think I will hold back the rest of this week and
starting next week start the building process. I have no
goals as far as a number. I usually run no more than 50
miles a week. I want to run more than that since I have no
races upcoming of any signifigance. I would like to get
up to 100 mile week but that will take some time.

B/A10/78

Waldo Canyon

7 Miles 1:00:31
3:00 pm) mid 60's Sunny!
Have not run here in a month! Wow how time flyes. I felt
very good other than my quads are still pretty sore. I was
kind of surprised to run my second fastest time here. It
still was 1:25 slower than my best. Beautiful day today
I'm enjoying them while they last.

Trinity Brewing Company

4.50 Miles 32:57 7:21 average per mile
6:00 pm) cool upper 40's
Decided to run after all. I felt better as the day went on.
Still pretty sore but I think the run helped. I only ran
4.5 miles so I didn't over due it. My pace was faster than
I was planning. A new runner showed up tonight and she is
very fast. She is on the elite army team. She is training
for the CIM Marathon in December. I asked her what her goal
was and she said 2:45. I almost fell over. She wants to
qualify for the Olympic Trials.

B/A10/71

Denver Marathon Race Report

26.2 Miles 3:01:53 6:57 average per mile
7:00) am mid 40's start warming to upper 50's finish
40th Overall 4th Age (35-39)
Kind of a stressful start. I almost didn't make it to my corral
on time. I made it by like 30 seconds. Then the gun went off and
I didn't have my GPS signal yet. After a minute or two finally
got the signal and hit the start button. I started out pretty
quick. I was running 6:40's. My goal was 7:00 miles till I got
warmed up. So I went with it and decided to just run. Around
mile 6 GZ flies past me and says hello. He was doing the half
marathon and started in corral 4. He did awesome today 1:20 and
second master. Later saw him again as he was a spectator at mile
19. He cheered me on. I was not feeling good though at that point.
I had a bad side ache and it lasted for 4 miles before going away.
I went through the half at 1:29:44 so I had a shot as sub 3 but
knew it would be tough. I ran pretty good second half just not
good enough to do it today. My slowest mile was 24 7:08. So not
bad at all considering how tired and slow I felt at the end.
My loose goal today was 3:00-3:05 so I made my goal. This was
also my first road marathon at altitude so didn't know how much
that would effect me. Not sure how much it did. I think my 50k
from 2 weeks ago had some effects though. My legs didn't feel
fresh.
So this wraps up my season for 2010. I had a busy year 5 marathons
2 50 milers and a 50k. Most I have ever done. Time to recover and
get ready for 2011. I'm excited for it! Will turn 40 in March so
looking to place at some races as a master.

B/Launch/53

Gold Camp Road & North Cheyenne Creek Trail

5.75 Miles 1:02:27 Run/Hike
2:00 pm)upper 60's Sunny! Nice!

Started at Gold Camp road and ran .70 miles to North Cheyenne
Creek Trail. The trail gets steep from this point. I walked/
hiked most of it going out. This trail is also known as 7
bridges. You cross the creek several time going over 7 wooden
bridges. I went out 3 miles before turning around. Got lost
a couple times as I didn't know which way the trail went.
I was at 9150 ft at turn around. When I started I was at 7500
ft. I ran a bit on a trail called Pipe Line Trail. It was nice
not sure how far it goes.

Pikes Peak Greenway

6 Miles 40:59 6:50 average per mile
3:30 pm) 60 Sunny

Wanted to do 2 miles hard to work on some turn over. I have not
done any speed or tempo really since moving to Colorado. So I did
2 mile warm up 2 miles speed then 2 mile cool down. I did about
what I thought I would maybe a bit better. It was very hard
though my breathing was very labored. I will run easy tomorrow
then take off Friday and Saturday. Race is Sunday morning at 7:00.
Not looking to run any certain time. This will be my first road
marathon at altitude so will be interesting. The only plan I have
at this point is go out around 7 minute pace. I will then see how it
feels and adjust one way or the other from that point.

Today's run)
Mile 1 7:15
Mile 2 7:14
Mile 3 5:57
Mile 4 6:05
Mile 5 7:11
Mile 6 7:15

B/A10/66

Garden of the Gods

8.5 Miles 1:05:32 7:43 average per mile
5:20 pm) cool upper 40's
Ran with Rich again. We ran the roads and trails around the
Garden of the Gods. Felt pretty good tonight. It was kind of
chilly tonight I cold see my breath towards the end of the run.
Not really looking forward to colder weather.

B/Launch/26

Incline & Barr Trail - Ute Valley Park

4 Miles 11:00 am) not sure on time
Hiked up the Manitou Incline then hiked down Barr trail
with Lori.

9.25 Miles 6:00 pm)1:26:00
Ran with the Trinity group. We did 6 miles on the trails at
Ute Valley Park. First time on these trails. Some nice trails
to run on. Pace was slow as we had to do some rock climbing to
get to the top. Afterwards Rich and I went back out and ran 3.25
miles on Garden of the Gods Road.

B/a10/60

Garden of the Gods

10.52 Miles 1:25:32 8:08 average per mile
10:00 am) 60's Sunny! Nice Day!
Ran with Rich. Started in Manitou Springs. Headed towards the
Garden of the Gods. Went up Ridge Road and it killed me. This
road is steep and long. I struggled to keep my feet moving
and walked briefly to catch my breath. The rest of the run
was hard for me I couldn't really recover from the hill.
It's all good though I need to struggle to get better.
No pain no gain right?
Taken tomorrow off I need it! I have run everyday since my
50k last Sunday. I feel good just a bit fatigued. Next week
I need to take it easy I'm running the Denver Marathon on
Sunday.

B/A10/51

Uintah & Mesa

5 Miles 35:10 7:02 average per mile
4:30 pm) 60's
Was going to take today off from running but got the itch. I told
myself make it a easy run. Well I'm not good at taking it easy.
My fastest run this week pace wise.

B/Launch/17

Gold Camp Road

10 Miles 1:15:21 7:32 average per mile
1:30 pm)upper 60's Sunny & Breezy
Second time running this road and wanted to make it to the
second tunnel this time. The second tunnel is just before
the 5 mile mark. Unlike the first tunnel this tunnel is open
and you can go through it. Pictures above. First 5 miles is
slightly up hill 7500 ft to 8400 ft. My miles were in the
8:30's range. Coming back it's slightly downhill and I was
running 6:30's and pushed hard last mile for a 6:06 mile.

Colorado Running Company

6 Miles 44:18 7:23 average per mile
6:00 pm) 60's Cloudy
Took it somewhat easy. Picked up the pace last mile.

B/Launch/12

Jack Quinn's Running Group

6.5 Miles 48:00 7:23 average per mile
5:00 pm) Partly Sunny 70's
Still sore but not too bad. Ran with Paul.

b/a10/40

Race Director and myself from Sundays Race

Trinity Brewing Company

8.2 Miles 1:00:56 7:26 average per mile
6:00 pm) cool 60's
First time running with this group. About 25 runners showed up.
I was looking for a easy recovery run as I'm pretty sore from
yesterday. We started out easy 8:07 first mile but I was having
a hard time catching me breath. I settled down a bit by mile 2
7:40 pace. We ran to the Garden of the Gods and ran some of the
roads that go through the park. The last mile is down hill and
felt good to run fast without working too hard. mile 8 was 6:07.
So I pretty much didn't run this as a recovery run. Oh well I
felt okay at the end and no worse than when I started.

b/a10/33

The Bear Chase 50k Trail Race Report

31.1 Miles 4:16:54 8:13 average per mile 2nd Overall
6:30 am) cool at start 40's warmed up into the 60's sunny.
Lakewood, Colorado Beer Creek Lake Park
Well not a bad day at all. I had no goals going into this race.
Just wanted to finish. I was not confident in my training leading
up to this race. I'm still adjusting to living in Colorado and
dealing with the altitude. Also normally I do several long runs
before an ultra and I didn't get them in.
The race started and I went out easy. Actually almost everyone
went out easy. First mile was 8:49. It was still pretty dark
and chilly so I think that was the reason. I wore a singlet, arm
warmers, shorts and gloves. I shed the gloves and arm warmers
after the first loop. The course was 2 loops plus a shorter
loop that the 10k runners ran. I got into a okay groove after
a few miles and actually pulled away from the pack. The course
has a few hill climbs and I just didn't have the legs to run them
I walked all the steeper hills. I think it helped me in the long
run though.
I started the second loop and I was feeling weak mentally and
physically. I decided I should back of the pace and just run at
whatever pace feels good. This helped and by the end of the
second loop I was running better. Note first loop and a half I
made 3 restroom stops. Not sure why? I also used the restroom
3 times before the race. I didn't even drink that much. I need
to figure that out. Nutrition wise I also didn't do very well
I only took 2 gels and a few honey stingers. I did however eat
bananas and oranges at the aid stations. I also drank some coke
at a couple.
The last loop the 10k distance loop I ran as hard as I could.
I still at this point didn't know what position I was in. We
started out with the 50 milers so I never took count. With
about 5 miles to go one of the volunteers said I was 6 minutes
back. That's allot with 5 miles. I kept pushing. I passed a few
runners but I think they were half marathoners that now were
also on course. At around mile 27 I see some kids and two
women. I get by the kids okay and go to pass the women on the
left and at the last second the lady moves to the left. I hit
her and lose my balance and fall down. No big deal I got up
and kept going. It was a bit frustrating though.
I arrive at the final aid station at about mile 28 and the
volunteer says I'm in third place. This is the first time all
day I now my position. I was surprised since I didn't feel
I was that far up. I figure that's it I will finish in third
and be happy with that. I keep pushing and see a runner ahead
didn't know for sure if he was a 50k runner or not. I get
closer and sure enough he was. I remembered running with him
earlier but lost him due to a bathroom stop. I passed him
and finished in second. I found out that I was less than 2
minutes behind the winner. Those bathroom stops really cost
me.
Really pleased considering everything. I feel I have lots
more room for improvement so that's exciting for the future.
I loved this race and it was done so well for a first time
event. I plan on going back next year.