Ladera Norte

Charles and I did 6 miles from his new house on Ladera Norte this morning in 1:12.  It was an enjoyable time.  We ran at a pretty easy pace and mixed in some walking.  Definitely a great way to start the day!!!


May 96 miles

fucked

Walked 3 miles at LBL yesterday after work instead of drinking beer.  It was a very fucked day at work.  I'm really going to try not to stress too much on shit so much.  Strong like bull not weak like chicken......at least for yesterday.

rolling

I had a great 15 miles of rolling hills from Camilla to Coldspring and back.    I never felt particularly strong but the clock doesn't lie.  3:20!!  I'm very happy with that as I continue to get stronger.

sky's the limit

Mark L, Steve F, a friend of Steve's named Karen and I did the 7 mile loop this morning in 1:09:40!!  I'm pretty darn happy with that considering I haven't been working on any speed or stamina stuff.  I'm thinking that being down 12+ lbs is making the difference.  That means the sky's the limit as I continue to drop a few mores lbs and get stronger and faster!!

next week

Alrighty, anybody who knows me very well knows that my running plans can change week to week, sometimes day to day.  I've been giving a lot of thought to my running bucket list.  Here they are in no particular order of importance;

Rim to Rim to Rim at the Grand Canyon
1000k jacket at Bandera
500m jacket at Rocky Raccoon
Running all 80 miles of trails at Guadalupe Mountains Nat Park
Running the 31 mile Outer Loop at Big Bend

With that list in mind I'm fairly sure I've changed my running priorities for this fall.  I've got 325k at Bandera so that means I cannot miss anymore Bandera 100k's.  Knowing myself I know that if I finished the Cactus Rose 100m at the end of October I would not have the will to run Bandera in January.

So, the focus turns to Bandera in January.  It's the last year for the National Championship 100k to be held at Bandera so I may as well really target that as a peak race.  And that timing should work out good for peaking again at the Nueces 50m in March which is also a National Championship race.

So, that brings me back to Cactus Rose in Oct. I think they best way to prepare for the 100k in January would be to do a series of shorter races.  Ever since I mentioned the 100m relay to David R I haven't been able to get it off my mind.  It really seems like it would be a lot of fun to do a team thing.  The 25k at Wild Hare would be a good shorter race.  Dec 1st is the Dirty Du marathon in Smithville that Mark L is RDing and that could be another good tuneup run.

I'm excited about my new direction.  Lets see how I feel next week!!!

back to it

5 miles with Misty at Ken's Saturday morning and 6 miles after work today.  Had a good off week last week.  It's time to get back to it this week.

shaded dirt

I sucked it up and went to bootcamp yesterday after work.  I haven't been in a couple of months partly due to laziness and partly because I really enjoyed doing it outside in the weather. The class Misty and I had been attending was held outside in the park parking lot.  Now they've moved to a place almost as close but it's inside.  After doing bootcamp outside the idea of doing it inside does not sound appealing at all.  None of the other classes are perfect timing so I've decided that Wed is going to be my bootcamp day.  Ty R., an ultra runner, leads a class at Auditorium Shores Mon-Thur at 5pm.  If I have to do deliveries there is also a class at 530 at the park inside the Triangle and if I can't make that there's a 630 at Canyon Vista MS.  So, basically I've given myself no outs for Wed bootcamp.

I had no deliveries when I got off at 4 yesterday so I was able to change and get to Auditorium Shores and park by 4:25.   I did an easy 1st street to Lamar loop for a warm up (1.3 miles).  When I finished my warm up run I expected to see people gathering near the parking lot but there was no one.  Then I noticed some people over near the trees across the main grassy area with yoga mats.  I made a quick and stupid decision to leave my choice parking spot and try to get a street side spot so I wouldn't have to carry my stuff all the way across the field.  Well, I get over there and no parking spots.  I drive down towards Lamar and make a u-turn in front of Butler pitch and putt and head back.  My only option is to head back to the main parking lot and of course, there are 3 cars already queued up waiting for people to leave.  What an IDIOT!!!!

It all worked out though.  I was able to park, grab my stuff and get over to the proper spot with 5 minutes to spare.  Ty immediately recognized my old ass even though we had never met before.  He came over, introduced himself and said he recognized me by the red Bandera 50k shirt I was wearing because he ran the same race.  We made small talk about ultra stuff.  He asked if I had ever finished a 100 mile race and when I told him I had he really lit up.  He's an excellent runner in his own right, finishing 2nd in the 30k Rogue race this past Sunday.  So, I was pretty flattered when he swooned over my 2 100 finishes.

He told me he had a fitness test scheduled for part of the regular workout.  The fitness test consisted of a 1 mile run, squats and how long you could hold a plank.  I wasn't sure what to expect from the run but I ran it in 7:30. I think the course was a shade short but I'll damn sure take it!!!  I held plank for 2:18 also!!  31 squats was pretty good too I thought.  The workout area was underneath some oak trees right in the shaded dirt.  I loved it.  Ty tried his best to encourage me to make one leg day and one upper body day a week.  I told him that for now one day a week would have to do.  I think I'm going to enjoy his class.

15,000

Today I went over 15,000 miles on foot since I gave up cigs on June 1, 1998!!  It was a great day.  Marc G and I started at the Mopac footbridge at 5am.  I tried to hold back but went thru 8 miles in 1:30 and 10 miles in 2hrs.  Marc and I decided we had time to do the 1st street loop instead of the 3 miler and make it back to the car by 8am.  Marc went on ahead but I walked up at exactly 8am.

Misty, Justin and David were there waiting.  After a toitie break we ate and drank and also had some of Misty's awesome peanut butter squares that tasted great.  After eating and drinking we hit the trail.  Misty went her own way and all us guys went the opposite direction.  We headed for I35 and the 7 mile loop.  I was surprised when I found myself doing a fair amount of slow running and feeling pretty good.  We met Misty when we came down off the I35 walkway.  We chatted for a minute and then Dave and I carried on by ourselves.

Dave and I mixed in running and walking all the way back to the car.  I was really happy about going thru 20 miles in 4:30.  We took a pretty good break at the car and just as we were wrapping up Misty, Justin and Marc showed up and were done.

Our plan had been to do all the loops but it occurred to me that we could run over to Rick's spot so Dave could see it.  We knew there was a chance the gate would be closed restricting access because of the rain we've had the last few days.  Well, we got there and sure enough the gate was locked.  A couple of women were there and said a biker just got busted putting his bike over the gate.

We turned around agreeing that we would leave it for the future.  We then headed back and did the 3 mile loop and when we were close to finishing Dave said I only had about a mile left to get in a marathon.  So, we did it!!  6:10 marathon!!  I'm very happy with that time considering how few miles I've put in the last few months!!

Ken's

5 miles at Kens this afternoon in 1:18, 19 minutes faster than 2 weeks ago!!  I felt noticeably stronger today.  I know part of it had to be the cooler weather.  It was probably 8 degrees cooler today vs 2 weeks ago.  I'll take it though.

bonus time

17 miles in Barton Creek this past Saturday mostly with Marc G.  We got an early start at the 360 entrance, ran back to Zilker.  Marc topped off his bottles and we headed for the HOL.  We maintained what I felt like was a pretty good overall pace mixing in a little walking.  Our time to the HOL (11 miles) was 2:35.  Not to shabby for still working myself in to shape.  We took an extended break of 15 min at the top replenishing and then headed towards Lost Creek.  As we neared the turn around we came to a sudden stop when we ran into a small landslide that had completely covered the trail.  It was passable but we would have sunk a bit in the soft dirt so we decided to just turn around.  After we crossed the dam I could tell Marc was ready to kick it on out so I told him to go ahead.  I told him it would be easy, what I forgot to remind him to do was cross the creek.  I suppose I take it so much for granted knowing it so well after all these years and miles.  I didn't bonk completely although I did do a lot of walking the last 4 miles.  I couldn't believe it when I got to my car and Marc's truck was still there.  I grabbed my recovery drink and walked back down to the trail and just as I was stopping Marc came around the bend.  He had gone up the hill to the Mopac entrance.  We laughed about it.  I told him that's the best way to learn the trail is get in some "bonus" time once in a while!!!

hour run

Got in a good hour at Bull Creek.  I did the 4 mile loop and added the hill up to the Mountain Goat trail and back down.  Great run, especially the day after having a few beers the previous evening.  I NEVER do that.  Pretty cool!!!