Hang Nine

AM – 7 miles.  Explored around the Bay area, and then followed the Freedom Trail for a bit.  Foggy and cool this AM.  Fall is certainly coming.






Had dinner with Mark and Nella last night.  So very blessed to know these wonderful people.

Rode the red line back.  Quiet on the subway on a Sunday night.

Evening

4.6 miles.  At least that is what the wrist unit sez.  The phone said five miles.  Just exploring around. 

September wraps with 320 miles, 44.75 hours, and 9640 feet (lowest in vert by far).  Year is at 2782.4 miles, 406.45 hours, and 236,610 feet.   Travel nights on the year are at 47.    Averaging just a hair over 71 miles a week, 10  and a quarter hours a week.  I feel good in the month in that I have mentally turned the focus to getting back to some shorter quicker stuff and sticking to that.  I need to up the ante on the strength workouts and diet.

Lucho pointed me to a great series on aging that Joe F is doing.  Need to catch up on that.

What a day yesterday for running:  Krar wins UROC, and Kipsang broke the marathon world record (2:03:21), but the story that had me most surprised is Cranny winning the Shootout.   A few thoughts … A high schooler beat everyone at a D1 college XC meet, back to back sub 62s are beyond the comprehension of even runners who understand that number, I might change my name to start somehow with a CR or a KR so that I get faster, or at least grow a beard in hopes to, and can we stop making apologies for courses being too much road and too flat when a very talented, hard working and incredibly successful guy does not win and instead some other very talented hard working people do?

Post script – later I saw Jon Olsen set a new American 100-mile track record at the Ottawa Self-Transcendence 24-hour race in 11:59:28.  That is sick. 7:12 miles!  Broke the old AR by over 25 minutes.

Canova’s analysis of Berlin.

Spent my yesterday like this: 

… all about drug development processes.  So once I got out, it was such a pleasure to connect with kindergarten to college buddy Mark, his wife Nella and their new little guy.  Got around Boston a bit and enjoyed a nice dinner. 

I am not sure why, but I have a weird love of riding subways.  Is it that you can enter the T system and then snake around the city forever?  Weird.  I mean it is just public transit, why the big deal since it is in a tunnel?  I had the same enjoyment when cruising the Tube in London last year, and in DC on their underground trains. 

AM – I connected up with Jeff H.  Another connection with a runner through the interwebs – this one via Strava.  He is in town from AZ.  We got together for some easy miles, chatting up UROC, the marathon.  Another good guy out there putting in miles.  8.2 miles.  These “blind date” runs seem to always leave me wondering how much of a let down I am as a date … just a short, old, hairy grumpy guy who is compelled to run and blog everyday.  Not much more to it.
 

About a month ago, I changed my name on Facebook to something other than my actual name (more of a CB radio handle I guess).  My reason for the change is a bit contradictory.  I post every day here about my running, my travels and my family.  But on FB, I sort of feel unmotivated to post, and maybe not even be easily found.  Just not as interested in the general traffic I guess.  I do enjoy it (and twitter for that matter) for keeping up to beat on things like races (all three I mention above for example).  But otherwise my appetite (for now maybe) for posting there is satisfied (again, maybe just covered here anyway). 

Looking to get out again tonight for a tempo of sorts. 

This comic was put up in a presentation today.  It is a classic.

This conference I am at reminds me of how … stupid? … I am.  Everyone here is a Ph.D or a doc of some sort or a lawyer or has been in the industry 20 something years and has such a boatload of letters after there name for the various credentials and certifications they have.  I need to up the game. 

JZ completed his OA ordeal successfully over the weekend:

I think I have effectively fried another Garmin ANT stick. 

Afternoon I got out and attempted a tempo run.  Legs were a bit heavy, and I was fighting weaving through traffic and people but I managed 3 miles at 6:40 pace fairly okay. 

71.7 on the week, just under 10 hours but flat flat flat (1780 feet) on the week).  Everything has been flat lately though with the trips.  In all of September I have yet to collect 10k feet of climbing (1/3 of the climbing in the month came in one day).

I think the saying is with friends like these …

In Boston this AM.  Up early for some easy slow miles.

 
 
10.6 miles.  A bit sore from the Thursday session.

If I got here a few hours earlier yesterday, I would have gone to check this out.

I might need to open one in Broomfield.

Interesting back and forth on the front of the pack back of the pack, RnR/Competitor support …

Brandon S is doing a Pikes Quad today.  Holy crap on so many levels.

Eating less versus exercising more is a more effective way to lose weight.  I need to drop a good number pounds for XC.

Solid interview with Trent B.

Off to Boston for a conference for a few days.   Got here and headed out for a run around the Common, and then along the Charles.  10.6 miles.

The Common has several of these pianos just out for the public to use.

KZ has a XC meet today.  JZ is off to PV for his OA session with the BSA.

If I were in town for the weekend, while I know that everyone would be heading to UROC (like to see this guy take it), I think I would go check out the Shootout.  And if they still allowed open runners, I might jump in it.  But they might not.

Best photo bomb ever.

Afternoon – warm up and then 15 x 30 seconds hard in the grass.  Repeats were all faster than mile pace.  Not much faster I can get than that right now.  10.3 miles.

Awesome read.  Not related to running as much as hunting but awesome nonetheless. 

Sometimes I don’t know what to say.

Everyone getting a trophy is bad.  When children make mistakes, our job should not be to spin those losses into decorated victories. Instead, our job is to help kids overcome setbacks, to help them see that progress over time is more important than a particular win or loss, and to help them graciously congratulate the child who succeeded when they failed. To do that, we need to refuse all the meaningless plastic and tin destined for landfills. We have to stop letting the Trophy-Industrial Complex run our children’s lives.

Dogs …

Today’s listening included Dream Theatre and Buckethead.  Here are some covers that are pretty good …

I’d say #awesomekidmusicians but …

8.5 miles with Adam B at work.  Easy but occasionally touching steady. 

This is making the rounds and then I saw Timko reference it.  It is pretty awesome.

Open Space Board of Trustees are having a meeting tonight Wednesday and I am sure closures, openings will be on the agenda.  With soccer, Scouts and piano crew duties I am not going to make it but thanks to Laurent for the tip.

Love the data crunching on the recent IM Tahoe.

In Boston this weekend and into part of next.  Looking for an evening race …

As part of consideration of being involved in an endurance study at UCONN, I am keeping a food log.  I tend to forget what I have eaten so I have been taking pictures of it to append to the log.  Interesting to look at it later.  Guess it shows what an unconscious eater I am.

Apparently pack burro racing legend Joe Glavinick, (he was a Pack Burro Racing Hall of Famer) has passed away.  Good read on some of the burro racing history, including Joe’s impact on the sport.  Curtis says, “In this lycra lemming, running nerd tourism filled eco-enduro sport challenges high-tech energy bars, $200 shoes and gear heads, fun hogs swarming all over my beloved Rockies, I'm more convinced than ever that Joe Glavnick was the greatest pack burro racer who ever lived. He did more than just enjoy the lifestyle. He knew mining, alcohol, boom and bust, family, dysfunction and, mostly, he had/has a profound relationship with his ass. He won more World Championships than anybody and was/is extremely generous with the lore, craft and tradition of the sport.”

More trails opened.  I guess that is encouraging.  Not particularly stoked about the “night closure” gig.  Admittedly I ought to keep my mouth shut as I have not been quick to get on the volunteer box to help fix trails … just otherwise booked. 

A bit sore in the hammies today from the squats yesterday (good).  It did not take much.  Just 30 deep squats with two 20 lb dumbbells in my hands in front of me.  Ugh.  A longer warm up to ease them up and the 3 x 3-2-1 minutes with a minute rest, 2 minutes between sets – in the park on the grass.  Ugh some more.  4 x 15 second hard strides.  12.1 miles altogether.

Holy crap what an ugly stride.

Another take on the damage to trails and roads.  … still the Boulder gov flicker feed is a lot more telling.  It is hard to appreciate some of the magnitude of those photos unless you know those areas.  

More trails are opening. 

Love this track bagging story by Mike H.

Interesting read on crossfit detriments.  Not sure running hard is much different though.

The moose in the area has been caught and is going to be relocated.

Wes T recommended that I check out “Here’s the Thing” with Alec Baldwin.  I caught his interview with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and it was excellent. 

7.1 miles easy in the afternoon.  Fairly worked from the last two days.

15 minutes GS work in the afternoon.  Planks, myrtle, light weighted squats, jump rope including 1 legged jumps.  I absolutely suck on the left foot (lawn mower) and will look to correct that. 

CVS 5k video (the 5k nat champs) … I did this race a bunch of years ago when I went east for a wedding.  I had hoped to break 16 and was disappointed when I ran 16:40ish (if memory serves me right).  Notice the back and forth between Teg and Feisa around the 11 minute mark of the vid. 

House of Run has a great podcast this week.   They interview a pro pacer, Matt Scherer, providing a different and interesting insight on an aspect of track that is often overlooked. 

Gary David put up a shot on FB of the trophies they are putting out for his Midnight Ride Cyclocross Race. 

Pretty cool gear.  He recommended this one: 

I was pretty stoked to get my pickaxe at BTMR this past year (although I have wondered if I’d have traded that in for a better performance at Pikes).

And then there are these cool ones from Javelina 100 and Black Hills 100 (Jeremy Bradford has two of those big skulls).

All that said, while it is all just gear, and is just a thing (and clearly in light of the recent debacle with the GSUR that was stated by many) … there is something to be said for getting a cool trophy.  Alternatively, my favorite over the years might be the simple bronze runner that you got at all events in the 80s … for a conference win.  More the event I guess there.

Any favorite trophies?

AM – jogged over to MHS track.  Track #3.  I actually was last on this a couple weeks ago but this track is so familiar to me that I forgot to “catalog” it.  This might actually be the track that I have run on more over the years in the area than any other.  From 99 to 07 it was my go to track when my office was in Louisville. 

Failed to get a pic this morning as well, so here is one that Laurie T took a couple of weeks ago.  In the pic going from left to right other than me are Shad, Lucho and Brandon. Notice how I am killing myself and Lucho is holding his breath.

Just Shad and me this AM … we did 4 x (200-200-400) with rest equivalent to each repeat.  I was a bit tired (but not sore) in the legs from yesterday but managed okay.  The 200s started at 36, and were all 34, 35 other than one that I got at 33.  The 400s were 76, 74, 74, 73.  Good to jog with Shad, catching up on stuff and trying to figure out where we can take the track workout to Lucho since he is stuck in the mountains given this flooding.  Maybe the Idaho Springs track is next for me to bag?

15.1 miles on the day as it is about 5 and a half miles there (and then back).  Puts me at 68.1 for the week. 

I want my general structure of the next six weeks to look this:

1.)  a workout that is of longer reps (3 minutes or longer)
2.)  a workout that is of shorter reps (like today) and with full recovery
3.)  a tempo run or race of 3k to 10k.
4.)  a longer run

This is a general structure … some of those can be combined.  So for example, today was a bit of a combo of 2 and 4.  I want the other days to be focused on recovery, and GS work.  And time to clean up the diet (I am carrying about 8-10 more than I should for effective racing).  I figure this should give me a solid build for a 5k race between now and Thanksgiving.  I will then take a little break of sorts and then do a similar ramp up for Nats in February.  Lot of work to do.  If I am honest, I’d be freaking pressed to break 30 minutes for the 8k.  That will put me way back.  If I can carve that down to 28, then that will be helpful from a team perspective (whereas 30 won’t).

Bart is the most entertaining dog in the world.  He loves swimming, tennis balls, to kill all sprinklers, hates crows, thunder, helicopters, the leaf blow and piano players.  He is fearless of all things except the sewer drain that the street that is home to the mutant sized raccoons.

This is just awesome.

Worked the chute at the Broomfield Invite yesterday.  Benji and Amie and crew do an awesome job.  They are also doing the USATF XC race … it is pretty tricked out the various technology that they have to capture a race.

 

Cool video

I am pretty sure that is Max K and Dakota Jones running in there.  The ski moves just past two minutes are redonkulous.

Honnold is a freak and I am certain he is going to die in a crazy fall at some point, but “his” videos are amazing.

A small set of open space in the Boulder OSMP has been reopened.  ”Trails will be closed at night because of hazards not visible in the dark.”  Argh.

Well behind on some posts I want to read given the Europe trip, but this one on Charles C. is near the top of the heap.

This morning I jumped in the Broomfield Days 5k.  This is the second closest 5k to my house, being 1 mile away.  The Kohl 5k is the only one closer. 

18:31, 3rd, 2nd male and first master.  I’d like to say that it was easy – but I was struggling after the first mile.  The splits show it.  That said, I moved up within the field – 6th at half a mile, 5th at the mile, and then moving into 3rd shortly after that.  Lori Walker was 2nd (her Dad Kyle Hubbard was 4th – and if the race was 4 miles he probably would have caught me) and she seemed to be coming back at times and then pulling away. 

5000 feet higher than last week and a few handful of seconds slower.  I guess I can blame that on the altitude or the turns or something else.  Probably got out a bit too fast as well.  Whatever.  I am going to just keep plugging at this.  A 5k tests me well enough right now.  I was a big wimp (I would use a different word but wimp will need to suffice here) in the last mile in my head.  I was moaning to myself how much I was hurting.  I need to work on that game.  Good stuff.

12.3 on the day.