Quest for LeadMan 09

The Leadville Trail 100 Run, The Final Chapter!

2009-08-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

Well this has been quite an adventure with the last leg being by far the hardest. I had so much fun training for these events, its kind of sad to be done. But it was absolutely an epic journey. And I met, rode and ran with so many incredible people along the way. I can’t begin thank everyone that helped on this journey. The Leadville 100 run was brutally hard. I had to dig deeper than I thought I could many times to make it. It hurt.

We started the day at 2 am Saturday morning to be ready for a 4 am start in downtown Leadville. I had the very best of crews; Roswitha my wife, veteran of many such adventures, Jesse my son, and Shannon, Jesse’s girlfriend. Both Jesse and Shannon are recently back from 15 months in Iraq. Shannon had two previous tours. Rick Hessek, who finished 4th overall in the Leadville Trail 100 run last year was my pacer/mule for the last 50 miles.

Since I had earned the big buckle in the 100 mile MTB race by going under 9 hours, I wanted to go for the big buckle in the run by finishing under 25 hours. No Leadman had ever "big buckled" in both 100 mile races. However, I had this nagging thought in the back of my mind that haunted me throughout the race. “My farthest run this year was only 37 miles. How can I possibly hold this pace for 100 miles?” My plan was to go out at a 24 hour pace, which would give me an hour cushion if any problems developed.

Getting ready to Start

Start to May Queen 13 miles

And We're Off!

The first leg is a 13 mile jaunt to the first aid station starting in Leadville to the May Queen campground. We began with a little over 3 mile descent down the infamous Blvd. I was feeling really good and opened up with a comfortable pace. I heard in ultra-running if you go out at a comfortable pace your probably going too fast. If I was going to break 25 hours I had to take that chance. After the Blvd we climbed up a steep rocky trail to a 6 ½ mile single track around Turquoise Lake. The trail is rocky in places and can be a bit tricky running in a crowd at night. The guy in front of me stubbed his toes and tripped several times. It was just starting to turn daylight when we reach the May Queen. I was ahead of schedule. My goal was 2 hrs 12 min and I arrived in 2:05. My crew was ready, we swapped camel backs and food bottles. I dumped some clothes and grabbed my sunglasses and continued on. Very efficient pit stop.

May Queen to Fish Hatchery 24 miles

From the May Queen we jumped on the Colorado Trail to Haggerman Pass Rd. This is a very rocky trail that requires a bit of boulder hopping. I’m not very good at running these kind of trails and found myself getting passed quite a bit. Once off the Colorado Trail we headed up Haggerman Pass and Sugarloaf mountain. The same route as the mountain bike race. In previous runs, I walked a lot of this section since it is uphill and I wanted to save my energy for later. This time I ran all the way to the top. I passed a lot of people that passed me on the Colorado Trail. I did have that haunting thought in the back my head though. I knew I could be blowing the whole Leadman by running this section, but felt I had to, to break 25 hours. Once at the top we descended the Powerline. The same powerline as the mountain bike race. A long steep descent. Again I was passed quite a bit, as I am not a very good downhill runner, especially on loose rocky trails. I tried to open it up the best I could, but still I got passed. Once at the bottom, my legs felt a little beat up from the downhill running but nothing major. So far so good. We ran a ½ mile or so of rolling pavement to the next aid station, the Fish Hatchery. My goal time – 4:10, actual time 4:04. Approximately one marathon down, three to go.

Fish Hatchery to Pipeline 27 miles

At the Fish Hatchery, I dropped the camelback and any extra weight since it was only three miles to the next aid station. The run to pipeline is mostly flat to slightly downhill pavement. It’s kind of boring, but at the same time nice to be able to just run without concentrating on not tripping over rocks and roots. I arrived a the Pipeline starting to feel the effects of the running and started to become worried that I went too hard in the first 27 miles. I wasn’t feeling great and started to fear that I may not finish. I got a quick massage from my crew, new camel back, food bottle and was off.

Pipeline to Twin Lakes 40 miles

Things started to thin out after leaving the Pipeline, and we ran some beautiful trails for the next 13 miles. I rarely saw another runner and was alone for most of this stretch. I was also beginning to hurt. I tried all my usual tricks; enjoying the mountains, telling myself how much I loved running, how lucky I am to be doing this, and trying to find my "happy place". I was having all kinds of positive pep talks with my self, but nothing seemed to work, I was hurting. Finally, I just turned my brain off and ran. I ran a long slightly uphill section of dirt road that eventually led to the Colorado Trail at the base of Mt. Elbert, the highest mountain in Colorado. Once I hit the Colorado Trail I was cruising. For some reason, Jim Hendrix’s “Sweet Angel” started playing in my head:

“And i said fly on my sweet angel
Fly on through the sky
Fly on my sweet, sweet angel
Tomorrow i shall have you by my side”

Next thing I knew I was running painless and felt like I was flying through the mountains. I even started singing out loud. If anything it may have scared off any bears in the area. Eventually, I came off the Colorado Trail to a jeep road that led to the town of Twin Lakes. After a short steep descent (that I almost biffed) Jesse met me and ran with me to where the crew was patiently waiting. My goal pace 7:25, I arrived in 7:13.

Twin Lakes to Winfield 50 miles

Starting the Climb up Hope Pass

The run to Twin Lakes was just a warm up. Now we faced the notorious double crossing of Hope Pass. A brutally steep climb and descent up to 12,600 ft. I left Twin Lakes feeling about the best that could be expected, which wasn’t great. About a mile out of Twin Lakes is a creek crossing that is usually between knee and waist deep with a pretty strong current. Runners typically have to use a rope to get across. This year the creek was very low. It was now approaching noon and Leadville was experiencing record high temperatures in the mid 80s. The ice cold water felt great. I kneeled down in the water to cool off my legs. It felt so good! Climbing Hope Pass destroyed me. I started with a power hike that rapidly turned to a survival shuffle. By the time I reached the Hopeless aid station near the top, I was just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. The Hopeless aid station is quite a sight in itself. At this point the trail is so remote that the whole aid station is packed in via llamas. After the Hopeless aid station we continued up a long single track above timberline with several switchbacks. For me it was brutal. I was digging very deep to just keep going, one step at a time. Finally, the top. Oh that hurt. The descent is very steep, rocky, and for me very slow going. It seemed like dozens of runners passed me while going down. At one point I tripped and did a face plant in the side of the mountain. Luckily I fell on the mountain side of the trail, as the other side was a pretty steep drop off. I was so happy when I finally reach the bottom. Once down we ran a approximately two miles on a slightly uphill dirt road to the beautifully restored ghost town of Winfield. Winfield is the turn-around, the half way point. I checked in at the aid station and was weighed in. My weight at the start was 163.5 lbs, I now weighed 157. I was on the verge of dehydration.

Winfield 50 mile Turn-around

Winfield to Twin Lakes 60 miles

At Winfield I took a short break. I was hurting and my moral was starting to sink. My crew was fantastic. They massaged my legs, switched out my camel back and shoved me back into the race. Rick joined as my pacer, and carried my food bottle, along with gels, and anything else I needed. It was so great to have someone to talk to. Rick was incredible and has to be one of the best pacers on the planet. He is among the top ultra runners in the country and has done his share of suffering. He seemed to know all the right things to say, and had incredible experiences to share just when I needed them most. Throughout the next 50 miles, he ensured I was taking in the proper amount of calories and fluids, carried my stuff, as well as ran back and forth taking pictures and just kept me going.

Back up Hope Pass was brutal. It was hot. Even at 12,000 feet it felt like 90 degrees with the sun beating directly down on us. Even though I felt like I was crawling, we did pass a few people. There was quite a traffic jam as we continually encountered people coming down from their first crossing. As in the first crossing, the climb practically destroyed me.

Back up Hope Pass

Close to the Top and Dragging

Rick & Me at the Top

Headin Back Down toward Twin Lakes

Again that haunting thought of my longest run only being 37 miles came back. Once at the top, we slowly descended to the Hopeless aid station. My lack of descending skills had to be frustrating for Rick, as he is an excellent descender. He kept telling me I was doing fine, but I thought “yea right, your just saying that, your really thinking my grandma could run faster”. At Hopeless we refilled camel backs and continued down the mountain. Strangely enough, I was able to run a good portion of the descent at a decent pace. I caught my foot several times and fell at least twice but only a couple people passed us, and we actually passed a couple ourselves. Once off the mountain, we crossed the creek and I laid down in it to cool off. It felt so good. Back at Twin Lakes, we met Jesse who escorted us to the rest of the crew. Again they sprang into action. Change of shoes, clothes, camel backs, gels, flashlights and we were off. We were now 14 hrs and 26 min into the race.

Ahhhh!

Twin Lakes – Pipeline 73 miles

At Twin Lakes the Crew Again Springs into Action

The route out of Twin Lakes to the Colorado Trail is a steep climb of about two – three miles. We power hiked this section and I started feeling a little better. I guess being down a 10,000 feet vs. almost 13,000 made difference. Once the trail flattened out a bit we began running again. The problem with walking is it is so hard to start running again. It took a little while to get the pace back up, but once we did we started to cruise. We were trying to get as far down the trail as possible before dark. As I ran my haunting thought came back and I started to hurt and slow down. Finally, again I just shut off my brain and ran. Nothing but focus on running as efficient and relaxed as possible. No other thoughts. Just shut up and run! We left the Colorado Trail and ran the long slightly down hill jeep road to Pipeline. It was pitch dark, but Jesse met us and ran us to the rest of the crew. I sat down and Shannon massaged my legs. It was excruciatingly painful, but I think it did some good.

Pipeline – Fish Hatchery 76 miles

Since it was only three miles to the Fish Hatchery, I didn’t take a camelback. Just a water bottle that Rick carried. A good part of that three miles is slightly uphill. It felt like a very long three miles. Again, I had to turn off my brain, dig very very deep and just run. It hurt. I was still close to goal pace though. My goal pace was 18 hrs, we arrived in 18:13.

Fish Hatchery – May Queen 87 miles

When we arrive at the Fish Hatchery, for the first time, I started to believe I might actually make it under 25 hours. Sure I was hurting, but I was seeing and hearing about a lot of other people that were a lot worse. I was on target pace and we were about to climb the Powerline. After consistently running for so long, I actually welcomed the climb because it was more of a power hike then a run. As I reported in the mountain bike race, the powerline is a long steep climb with several false summits. Rick and I powered up in what seemed like no time, passing several other runners, including Paul Smith of CRUD fame. Once at the top we ran down to the Colorado Trail. The Colorado Trail was very rough on me. My feet were pretty beat up from running on rocks all day, and this trail is very rocky and slow going. Especially at night. We made slow progress and I tripped several times. I was so happy to be through that trail when we finally exited. The trail beat me up pretty bad and my moral started to slip. Jesse met us outside May Queen, and ran us to the crew, but I was having a hard time keeping up.

May Queen – Finish 100 miles

96 Miles Down, 4 More to Go!

At the May Queen I was hurting and demoralized. I couldn’t see how I could run the next 13 miles of single track through the night to the finish. Jesse picked up on this and said “Dad you are right on schedule, you have 45 minutes to play with to go under 25, and you could walk in and still make it under 30” (30 hours is the official cut off for a finish). For some reason this flipped a switch in my brain and I was raring to go. “Cmon Rick Let’s Run!” We took off from the May Queen and ran and ran. I tripped over some rocks a couple times but no damage. We were passing people along the way that were trashed. I don’t know how, but we kept running. I was reaching as deep inside myself as I ever have and just kept running. About 6 miles from the finish the chem lights and trail markers disappeared. We couldn’t believe the course was so badly marked and went off course several times. Luckily Rick trains here often and knew the course well, but in the dark, it was sometimes hard to follow the trail without a chem light in the distance to guide us. Eventually we came upon runners that were wondering around looking for the trail, some had been lost for a while. Eventually we found a pile of chem lights and course markers laying in the middle of the trail. Someone had gone through and tore everything down. What a cruel trick at 94 miles. Rick led us out the right way and finally we reached the dam and a course marshal. We informed him of the situation and he set out to remark the course. Once we crossed by the dam we descended a steep loose rocky hill to a dirt road that led to the infamous Blvd. Rick & I continued to run, passing people who were walking. We encouraged them and tried to get them to run with us, but most said they were just going to walk it in. I just wanted to get done! We ran. The Blvd is a 3 mile dirt road climb into Leadville. In the dark it seems to never end. I told Rick “This is the third time I’ve been up this thing this week. I’m really getting tired of it”. We finally came into Leadville and walked the final hump that tore my lungs out the previous Sunday in the 10k race. Once over the hump we ran through the finish with my fantastic crew waiting for us. 24 hrs 10 min 35 sec. Big Buckle and the first Leadman to big buckle in the MTB 100 and Trail 100 Run. I was absolutely wasted. It took over an hour in the medical tent for me to recover and leave with the assistance of Roswitha and Cubby a former co-worker.

Crew, Pacer and Runner - All Glad to be Finished!

This was an incredible journey with many hurdles and obstacles as well as incredible support and friendships along the way. Just as in the 100 mile run, the Leadman Quest had many ups and downs, but the key was to keep on going. It’s what life is all about and I thank everyone who had and encouraging word, who trained with me, who supported the effort and was in any way part of this adventure. Team CRUD, ProCycling, the Urban Assault Gang in San Diego were all huge in making this whole adventure so enjoyable. Roswitha is the most incredible woman in the world, not only did she put up with all my training, but crewed at every race. Rick Hessek is not only an amazing ultra runner, he is the world’s best pacer. Thank-you everyone!

Closing Thoughts

Ken Chlouber the race founder talks about an endless well of strength, determination and courage deep within everyone of us. He talks about how in this race as well as in life we will face moments where we will have to dig deeper than we ever thought possible to pull out some of that strength, determination and courage. Then we will have to do it again, and again, and again, and if necessary, again. I found out exactly what he was talking about. The motto of the Leadville Trail 100 is “You are better than you think you are and you can do more than you think you can”. I believe it. All of us are better than we think we are and we can do more than we think we can. I hope everyone following this blog takes that to heart and goes out and does more than they think they can. It’s been a great adventure. Thanks for reading.

Leadville Trail 100 MTB and 10K Run report.

2009-08-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

This year the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race was as epic as any. Listening to the rain come down most of the night before wasn’t the most encouraging sound, but work had really been stressful this week and there were serious doubts that I would even be able to make the race. So I was just thankful to be here no matter what the weather.

The rain cleared by starting time (6:30 am) and the sea of mountain bikers was amazing. Somewhere around 1,500 of us. I was able to find a place among the first 150 or so. With Lance Armstrong starting, it was definitely a circus. A helicopter circling overhead, TV cameras, thousands of people. The Leadville Trail 100 certainly has changed over the years.

The start was fast. The first 3 miles or so is a police escort out of town to the trail head. Typically it is fairly controlled and we stay bunched up all the way to the trail. This year was smoking. It was probably the best start ever. Things were starting thin out before we even got to the trail head. Lance brought an entourage of pacers that were absolutely flying. (Most of them wouldn’t finish. Lance was using them to set a fast early pace to beat Dave and smash the course record).
So we hit the trail flying but with room to breath. I was feeling great and relaxed, probably somewhere in the first 200 riders. For some added excitement, we spooked a herd of cattle that stampeded through the woods beside us. As they were stampeding right next to us a lot of guys were trying to scare them off with their best cowboy hoop & holler imitations. They eventually cut across the trail right in front of us. There were some pretty big bulls in the group!

The climb up St. Kevins went very well. I felt so relaxed and my legs felt so good. This climb is steep, loose and rocky with only a couple of good lines up it. Today for some reason we were up in no time, and I didn’t feel like I was red-lining at all. We continued on the trail with rolling hills, loose off camber turns, fast rough descents, short steep climbs and a very fast pace. I felt relaxed and was enjoying every second. At some point it started raining, and like all rain at that altitude, it was cold. We hit a long road descent that took us to the bottom of the Haggarman Pass/Sugarloaf climb. We were absolutely flying in a group, sling-shotting off each other, and getting drenched. I began thinking this could be a long cold wet day, but I was still glad to be there.

The climb up Sugarloafin went well. I felt relaxed, the legs were strong and like the St. Kevin’s climb, it didn’t seem anywhere near as hard as in the past. As we were climbing a rider beside me said "this sucks". I thought "how could this suck? Wars, poverty, gangs, child abuse suck. Not riding mountain bikes in the Rocky Mountains by our own choice". Anyway, I diverge. I replied "Well we could be at work". The descent down the Powerline was fast and fun. Because of the rain, a very easy to follow line by the riders ahead of us made descending choices simple. Even though it was wet, I think this was one of my faster descents down the power-line.

The ride to Twin Lakes was fast and furious. The route to Twin Lakes is a series of fire roads and a little single track. I got into a four man pace-line and as we caught other riders they joined and our group grew to about 12 – 15. Most us blew through the 1st aid station at pipeline and pretty evenly spread out the work up front. There is a new section of course that replaces a short steep drop-off that used to be called the "North-Face". The single track winds down the ridge instead of dropping straight down like the North Face. It adds about 1 ½ miles to the course but was a pretty fun section. My only issue was I was cold and shaking pretty bad, making it hard to stay on the trail, almost overshooting a couple switch backs.

At Twin Lakes I met Roswitha who was crewing for me and she had everything ready to go. I was in and out in no time. Now the real fun began. The ten mile climb up Columbine! The climb starts out with some rolling hills, until we turn on to a dirt Forest Service road that climbs steadily until the last three miles above timberline. From there it turns into steep rocky jeep trails. When we hit the forest road, I temporarily felt like I was struggling a little bit, but relaxed and found my rhythm. The road was a little mushy from the rain, making it slower than normal. I began passing people one by one throughout the climb. Just as we came above timberline, Dan caught me on his single speed, but now we were hitting parts that were too steep for even Dan to climb. (On a single speed). He had to get off and push and I kept riding. The clouds were looking pretty ominous, and when we reached about 12,000 feet, they opened up in a deluge of hail. Ouch! Luckily, I was still going uphill. I thought about how painful this was going to be descending. The deluge only lasted for five minutes and as fast it came, it went away. By the time I got to the top, the sun was out and everything was beautiful.

Leadville is an out & back course, and the top of Columbine is the turn-around point. I hit the top around 4:35, somewhere around 130th place. I needed a faster second half to break 9 hours. I felt good and if nothing went wrong, confident that I could. From the top of Columbine is a high speed descent down very rough jeep trails with hundreds of riders coming up. Makes it just that more interesting. I was descending very well, and I came upon a rider that wasn’t descending as fast and got caught up behind him. With all the riders coming up, there was just no where to pass. Once we hit the forest service road, I was able to get by him and let it rip. I found out real quick though that some of the switchbacks were slick as snot and almost lost it into on-coming riders as I fish-tailed and skidded in very slick mud. The rest of the way down I let it rip, but made sure I slowed way down before each switchback.

Back at Twin Lakes and again, Roswitha had everything ready. It was a perfect pit stop. I climbed out of Twin Lakes then got with a group and we pace-lined to the single-track section. The wind was howling and at each switchback we got it from a different direction. A rider ahead of me was blown off his bike.

Once at the top of the ridge, we rode rolling fire-roads to the next and last aid station, the "Pipeline". Roswitha was there and had everything ready. Another perfect pit stop. The sun was shining and I was feeling great. Got with a good pace-line to the base of the Powerline. The Powerline is a nasty, steep, long, climb with several false summits. The first two steep pitches, no one rides, except maybe Lance & Dave. I tried it in the past, but there was a guy pushing his bike right beside me going the same speed. It’s just not worth the effort. Just like at Silver Rush, my running came to an advantage here, and I passed qutie a few in the "hike a bike" sections. Once past the two hike a bike sections, I climbed steadily, and steadily passed people. One guy hung with me for a while. It was his firt Leadville, and every time we came to a false summit he’d ask if we were at the top. After the third one, I told him we had a couple more to go with a pretty steep pitch on the last one. He replied "F&*# this" and I never saw him again.

Got to the top and let it rip. I really like this descent. It’s rocky and fun and you can really pick up some speed. Once down, the loooong road climb began. All you can do here is hope your feeling decent, get into a rhythm and start climbing. Most guys are pretty blown here. I was feeling good. I just started climbing and one by one I picked people off. No one made an attempt to stay with me, just a grunt of "good job dude". About ½ way up, finally a guy jumped on my wheel. He asked me if I thought we had a chance of breaking 9 hours. I said yes, but we would have to finish strong. He stayed with me to the top of the road and to the top of St. Kevin’s. We bombed down St. Kevin’s, and I overshot a couple of switchbacks, but nothing major. Once we hit the road outside Leadville we had a pretty flat mile or two to the notorious "Boulevard". There was a pretty stiff headwind and he left me out front the whole time. I mentioned that we should work together, but he said he was barely hanging on. So I told him to stay on my wheel and we’ll get there. I was getting a little worried though, because both legs were starting to cramp.

We turned onto the Blvd, and I made sure to stay relaxed even though we were climbing some loose rocky stuff that takes a bit of grunting. I just kept saying to myself "relax, relax, your not going to cramp". We climbed the 3 miles into Leadville, passing destroyed riders, who were just surviving. Outside of the mild cramping, I was still feeling pretty good. I thought to myself, "next week I’ll be coming up this same Blvd a drooling idiot". We crested the final hill and into the finish line. I achieved my goals of finishing, enjoying every minute of it, and breaking 9 hours with 8:45:35. My overall placing was 86th of 973 finishers and somewhere between 1,300 – 1,500 starters.

It was epic, epic, epic. And I love it, love it, love it!

The 10K Run

The following day, Sunday, was the 10k running race. The course is out and back following the last 3.1 miles of the LT100 mile course. It goes down the Blvd, then turns around and comes back up. Running a 10k at 10,000 feet is not easy. Don’t even think about time. My plan was to take it easy. My only concern was Max. There is a dog category and Max was the defending champion. I didn’t want to go hard as I wanted to save my effort for the 100 mile run next week, but didn’t want to disappoint Max either.

The race went well, Max and I took the lead in the dog class, without pushing too hard. Upon coming back, I saw we had a pretty good lead and we could coast to the finish (if you can coast running uphill at 10,000 feet)! I passed a guy on a steeper section and he asked me what age group I was in. When I told him 50+ he said "that’s what I was afraid of". Then the competitive part of me kicked in. I thought, hmm, I could be winning my age group, and then turned it into a race. I started upping the pace and running hard, which is what I didn’t want to do. Coming up over the final hump into Leadville, it felt like my lungs were being ripped out. I ended up winning the age group and Max successfully defended his title as "Top Dog"!

Next week is the big one. I’m looking forward to it. So far its been one amazing journey!

Very Good Signs

2009-08-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

It's been a very busy couple of weeks since the Silver Rush, but training seems to be on target. After the Silver Rush, I've been reducing the volume and cranking up the intensity with some very good results. Climbed very well on the Tuesday ProCycling hammer fests. Joined the Acacia Park group ride (Colorado Springs' equivalent to what other towns call their "A" ride) and climbed with the leaders, getting my heart rate to the highest this year! Runs have been high quality, running mile intervals and tempo runs at "faster than I though I could" pace, feeling pretty comfortable. Less than a week to go for the final chapter of this great adventure!

Big Horn Sheep encountered on a run

Silver Rush Report

2009-07-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

Lining up for the Start

Two down three to go! I have always loved the Leadville Silver Rush and this year was no exception. The Silver Rush is all uphill and down hill. It is a high altitude incredibly fun mountain bike race that I would recommend to any one that wants a good challenge. Just to get things off on the right foot we start by running our bikes up a hill that is too steep to ride. From there we go up; 6,980 ft of climbing at an average elevation 11,100 feet and topping out at over 12,000 feet. I didn’t want to kill myself on the run up the hill, but at the same time I needed to be close to the front because we immediately jump onto a fairly rocky double track. With 486 starters, I did not want to get caught in the traffic jam.

And there off!

Dan & Charlie Lead the Way!

Nice way to start a race!

It worked out the way I planned, I was in the top 30 at the top of the hill. Even then it was chaos. The trail was dry and so dusty I couldn’t see anything. Riding pretty high speed in a crowd on a rocky dusty trail while blind. I think ZZ Top has a song about that. After a while things started sorting out an I settled in for a long climb. The first part was not very steep and my legs felt a little dead. I didn’t panic, just focused on staying relaxed and enjoying the fact that I was embarking on an epic ride in an incredible place. There were people going around me including Phil Schweizer (Of Koobi Saddles fame) who I knew was in my age group. We have been taking turns beating each other over the years with him coming out on top the most. He (and the others) looked like they were working awful hard for so early in the race, so I stayed relaxed, focused on form and did not chase. Gradually the trail became steeper and as it got steeper my legs seemed to "wake up" and I was passing a lot of those, including Phil, that had passed me earlier. Once at the top I took some electrolytes (as I did every hour) to ensure I didn’t cramp up like last year. Then it was a screaming descent down a dirt road with a few rocky sections. I was able to hook up with another guy and we kept slingshotting off each other all the way down. At the bottom of the road we dropped down a loose rocky double track for some very rough but high speed descending. We were descending together, until I overshot a switchback and skidded into the woods, but I was still able to keep him in sight through the descent. Then it was steep climbing towards Ball Mountain and above tree line. There was a group of us going back and forth taking turns passing each other until some steep loose descents off of Ball Mountain. There we kind of split based on descending skills and I was able to stay with the front, although I almost bit it. From there it was all out racing to the turn around point at 25 miles. I saw Dan Durland coming back on his single speed, easily in the top ten and Charlie Dunn also on a single speed was hot on his heels. I arrived at the turnaround and Roswitha was ready, we switched camelbacks, a new food bottle, Hammer Gel, and was off. I was told I was 25th place overall. I was feeling incredibly good at this point and knew that this race was only going to get better.

Refuled and Ready to Go!

Headin out for the second half of FUN!

Going back to Ball Mountain entails climbing some very steep loose rocky sections (The same sections that split our group descending). We pushed our bikes up this section, barely able to breath at 12,000 ft or so elevation. I was able to pass a few people here probably due to all the running I’ve been doing, but I certainly wasn’t running. I continued to be amazed how good I was feeling on the climbs and slowly reeled in whoever I saw ahead of me. At one point I was climbing a steep section and found myself grinning ear to ear, I was loving it so much. When we hit the final major climb, which was the dirt road we screamed down a couple hours before, I saw about eight riders strung out as far up as I could see. Right then and there I decided I was going to catch everyone of them. I immediately dropped the guy I had been going back and forth with all day and started closing in on the first victim. Once I caught him I rode his wheel for a second or two to catch my breath then sprint past to make sure any thoughts of trying to stay with me were crushed. I did this to everyone, and as I passed all eight, I could see more in the distance. I continued catching and passing everyone I saw all the way to the top. Then came the long, fast incredibly fun descent. I just let if fly. There are sections that are pretty rocky so I did my best to pick lines that would least likely cause a flat, but that wasn’t always possible. I was a little concerned about flatting, but I didn’t want anyone catching me either. I saw a ProCycling jersey ahead and it was Charlie. He was definitely at a disadvantage here because he could not pedal fast enough for this section of downhill. We exchanged encouragement as I went by, and I continue to hammer to the finish. Just about the same place as last year I started to feel some minor cramping. I backed off a bit and focused on riding as relaxed as possible. The last section, although predominately downhill is rolling with a couple power climbs. I relaxed through these and the cramping went away, just as someone caught me from behind. Luckily I was able go all out and hold him off and actually put a little distance on him by the finish. Finished strong, ended up 13th overall out of 486 starters, and 1st in the old guys age group. I’ve had a lot of second places here (age group) due to getting off course, cramps, mechanicals, so it was super sweet to finally win one. Today, everything went right, fueling, pacing, stayed on course, no mechanical, and only minor cramping toward the end. ProCycling did very well. Dan won the single speed divison (6th overall), I won the Masters class, Charlie was second in the single speed division, and Kara won the womens single speed.

Coming into the Finish!

Taking Advantage of Unemployment

2009-07-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

View of Pikes Peak from top of Mt. Almagra

I got laid off Friday, July 10, the day before the Leadville Marathon. So I really got some great training and epic rides in this week. Fortunately, I found a new job right away and I start tomorrow. The timing is pretty good. I had planned this past week to consist of the most training before I start tapering/peaking for the 100s. So not having a job fit in perfectly! With that said I got almost 30 hours of training, and a couple epic rides and an epic run. Tons of climbing, tempo and speed. A perfect week!

Monday: Easy run just to get the blood going a bit. Still pretty sore and tired from the marathon on Saturday and the pre-ride of the MTB course on Sunday. Also did the normal strength training routine, focusing on the core.
Run: 0.3 hrs, 2.5 miles

Tuesday: This was a pretty incredible day. Started the morning (and I didn’t have to start in the dark) with a 16 mile run along Santa Fe Trail. I was still feeling a little tired, but still had a good run. I had planned to run six of the miles at tempo, but didn’t feel recovered enough from the past weekend. So pretty much kept a steady pace the entire run. Took a three hour break then did a hill workout on the bike, and it was hot! With the run in the morning and the marathon this past weekend, I wasn’t exactly hammering the climbs but I was climbing steady. Climbed Gold Camp, 3 * Cheyenne Canyon (ouch), Orion, Ridge Road, and Flying W for a total of 6,669 ft of climbing.
Run: 2.2 hrs, 16 miles. Bike: 4.3 hrs, 50 miles, 6,669 ft climbing

Wednesday: Ran some errands around town on the bike for an hour then some technical MTB riding in Ute Park. Recovery from yesterday.
Bike: 2 hrs, 17 miles

Riding to the top of Mt. Almagra

Thursday: Another extraordinary day! I could get used to this being laid-off. Today I decided to do my ride of truth. This is the ride I do to show myself I am ready for the Leadville 100 MTB race. I start from my house and climb through Cheyenne Canyon, Frosty’s, and to the top of Mt. Almagra, which tops out at 12,349 ft. It’s a LONG climb!

Kara on Bear Creek Trail

The plan was for me to start from home and meet Kara Durland (the queen of single speed) at the Gold Camp trail head. She arrived early and I was late (only a quarter way up High Drive) so she headed out about 20 minutes before I arrived. I rode tempo for an hour up Gold Camp trying to catch her, but still no Kara at Old Stage. I eventually found Kara waiting at Frosty’s which is right around 10,000 ft. We continued to climb for another hour or so, her on a single speed and me on a geared bike. I can say only one thing about Kara. She is a stud! She kept telling me not to wait for her, but that was not an issue. I was working pretty hard just keeping up. After 4 ½ hours of climbing we finally reached the top. The view is pretty much indescribable. You’ll just have to ride it for yourself to see. The picture at the top of this blog doesn't do it justice. This is definitely a seldom seen view of Pikes Peak. We had a little snack (Cliff Bar) and headed back down, via Jones Park/Cap’n Jacks, one of the funnest single-track descents around. I’m not sure how long it is, but my guess is at least 20 miles of single-track bliss. Once we got back to Gold Camp we went our separate ways, with me having three more climbs before I got home. These are the epic rides I live for! And Kara does them on a single speed!
Bike: 8.8 hours, 72 miles, 8,520 ft climbing.

Friday: Had a great run considering yesterday’s ride! I didn’t feel tired at all. Warmed up by running to Ute Park then headed over to the track for some barefoot running. Ran two miles barefoot, in just over 14 minutes feeling pretty smooth and effortless. After that I ran ten 100 meter stride outs across the football field. Felt absolutely great. Once I got home did the normal strength/weight workout.
Run: 1.1 hrs, 8 miles

The Mysterious CRUD Sign Appears on the Trail Again

Saturday: Another Epic CRUD run! There is no way to describe how fun this run was. Again we were like kids out on an adventure. Climbing past 12,000 feet, finding an old steam engine that used to pump water from a spring, bush-wacking, finding new trails, and incredible scenery. Runs like these are just too much fun to call training. No idea how far we actually ran. My best guess would be between 23 – 25 miles.

Run 6.3 hrs, 25 miles, 9,300 ft climbing

Run_Pics
More_Pics_from_Steve_Bremner

Sunday: Tempo ride on Santa Fe Trail. Rode tempo for 55 minutes from Ice Lake to Palmer Lake. Felt pretty good, considering such a long run yesterday, and was able to keep focused the entire 55 minutes. My time was among my best even though there was a slight headwind. Good sign! Means that even after almost a 30 hour week, I’m not over trained. I’ll taper a little this week, have a good Silver Rush, then hopefully peak for the 100s.
Bike: 3.7 hrs, 46 miles

Week Total: Run - 10 hrs, 53 miles, Bike 19 hrs, 182 miles

Leadville Marathon Report

2009-07-12T20:40:00.000-07:00

Leadville Marathon Start

Leadville Marathon. Ouch! I forgot how tough this marathon is. So far just about all the training I’ve been doing has been up to 10,000 feet. The Leadville starts at 10,000 and goes up from there. It has five major climbs with the biggest one topping out over Mosquito Pass at 13.100 ft. The scenery is incredible. So much so, I took a camera with me and took pictures along the way. When I got to the top of Mosquito Pass I even stopped and had a picture taken with Ken Chlober, the race director.

CRUD was there in force and we were all off for a great adventure. I couldn’t believe how good I felt right from the beginning on the long climb out of Leadville. I continued to feel great over the first three climbs including the long steep rocky climb to the top of Mosquito Pass.

Feeling Good Loving It!

However, Roswitha and I had a bit of a logistical screw up and I didn’t get any food at the 10 mile aid station, which I paid dearly for later. Although I didn’t know it, at the top of Mosquito Pass (13.1 miles) I was leading the 50+ age group and somewhere in the top 20 over all.

Mosquito Pass with Ken

I had only one gel since the start and it was 3 miles downhill to the next aid station. The descent from Mosquito Pass is steep, rocky and treacherous. It takes total focus and concentration to run it down at a decent pace. About 2 ½ miles down I bonked hard. And it was immediate. I instantly went from feeling great to terrible. I made it into the aid station cramping and incredibly hungry. I was able to get a little bit of Hammer Gel from Roswitha and a Power Gel from the aid station. The Power Gel gagged me and I almost puked. Leaving the aid station is a bit of a climb and I was really feeling bad. I kept telling myself its only 10 miles to the finish and I could tough it out. A couple times I got so light headed that I was reduced to walking and staggering. I kept catching my toes on rocks and tripped and fell pretty hard once while going uphill. It seemed like hundreds of people where passing me. I started getting negative thoughts and feeling sorry for myself, thinking I could DNF the Leadman on the first event. I finally made it to the next aid station and sucked on 4 – 5 oranges and ate some watermelon. I sat there for a few minutes thinking I had to keep going even if I had to be medically evacuated. So I headed out to the 5th and final climb, up and around Ball Mountain. At this point I was trying my best to trick my mind in to thinking everything was fine by being thankful to be out in such a beautiful place and how lucky I was to be in these incredible mountains. If anything, this was a good because it was a good lesson for the 100. Never take in too little (or too much) calories on such an arduous undertaking.

Bonked an Barely Moving

I eventually made it to the last aid station and had some more watermelon and oranges. I was starting to feel better and it was pretty much all down hill to the finish. Some of the descending was very steep and loose, but it seemed things were coming back and I was racing again. After finally coming off the trail and on to the dirt road that led back into Leadville I was pretty much fully recovered and even caught and passed one of two people before crossing the finish line in 34th place overall and 3rd in the old guys category.

Finish!

Despite the bonk this was an incredibly fun race. The atmosphere, the scenery, and the magic of the mountains can’t be matched. I made some serious mistakes during this race that caused some pretty serious suffering. But just like life, serious mistakes are the ones we learn the most from. It’s much better to make these mistakes the marathon than the 100 mile race. One down, four to go! The adventure continues!

More_Pictures

Paul_DeWitt's_Report

An Easy Week, On to Leadville, and Dan Durland Kicks Butt!

2009-07-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

Max

Monday: Today was a recovery day with just a strength workout on the docket. Even so I dawned my Vibram Five Fingers "shoes" (I'm still not sure what to call them) and took Max for a hike in Ute Park. These things felt so good I couldn't help running every once in a while. They felt great going uphill in rocky terrain, but are going to take some practice descending the rocky stuff. The thought crossed my mind to run with them all week and wear them in the Leadville Marathon, but that may not be a good idea. I'd hate to DNF in the first race because I switched shoes. I'll stick with convention for now.

Tuesday: Just another day in paradise. Up just before sunrise and ran with Max in Ute Park where we got to witness another spectacular morning. Ran a fairly easy loop around Ute and practiced running rocky descents, since there will be plenty of that in Saturday's marathon. In the evening rode easy for 1 1/2 hours to warm up for the ProCycling hammer fest. Once that came around, I rode strong and was right up there on the climbs, especially the second one. I thought about holding back and saving for Saturday, but again, the marathon and the Silver Rush are just lead ups to the 100s. I need to train through these and use them as training races with the bigger picture in mind. The 100s are where things will matter. On another note Dan Durland is kicking butt at the Breck Epic. After three days (A prologue and 2 stages) of brutal mountain bike racing, he leads the single speed class by over 5 minutes. He's a tough one. Link to news article: http://www.mtbracenews.com/2009/07/breck-epic-stage-2-preliminary-results.html

Wednesday: These are the hardest periods of training for me. When I have to start taking it easy for a race. Although I'm not doing a full taper, I do need to cut back a bit the final three days before the marathon. The legs are a tired and hammering the rest of the week won't be good. Sooo another beautiful morning in paradise. I ran with Roswitha and Max in Ute Park for a couple of miles then headed to the track for 2 miles of barefoot running and 4 * 100 meter barefoot strideouts then 2 miles home. Very easy, legs felt a little tired, except when running barefoot. My legs always seem to come alive when I run barefoot. Don't Know why. Dan is holding on at the Breck Epic. He lost some time today but still holds the overall lead by one second. Today was a brutal stage with over 9,000 feet of climbing. Here is a link to an article covering today's stage: http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20090708/SPORTS/907089962/1056

Thursday: An easy day on the bike. Pretty much just played around practicing basic technical skills for 30 minutes, then went to Ute Park with Kevin Cahn to ride the technical sections. Kevin is a very good technical rider and he's looking for a new bike. He had a demo Santa Cruz that the shop lent him. So we put it through the test on the rockiest most technical sections in Ute Park. I think he likes it. I see a Santa Cruz in Kevin's future. Dan must have really suffered today at the Breck Epic. He came in third and lost over seven minutes to the lead. Again another brutal day with over 9,000 feet of climbing. One more day. GO DAN!

Friday: This mornng was a very easy run to try and get fresh legs for tomorrow. Legs felt signigicantly better than Wednesday, but still a little tired. Tomorrow the adventure begins. Dan wasn't able to make up the 7 minutes today but he fought valiantly and came in second. Almost 30 minutes ahead of third (over the six days of racing). Dan is a true stud. Six days of racing brutal courses at high altitude with monster climbs...on a SINGLE SPEED! Way to go Dan you are one tough hombre. Now for me it's off to Leadville!

2009-06-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

After months of training, the first event of the Leadman is just around the corner! This has been an amazing journey and no matter what the outcome, the journey has been so much fun, it doesn’t matter. Whoever said “It’s the journey not the destination” must have been training for Leadman. It has been so much fun and through this I've come to realize how much I love running and riding in the nature of this amazing planet. Everywhere from San Diego to Washington DC to Colorado Springs I have found great places to train. (Actually it’s more like playing than training). All the people I’ve had the privilege to run and ride with throughout this adventure have been incredible to say the least. Everyone from the Urban Assault Crew and Major Taylor Cycling Club in San Diego to CRUD & ProCyling in Colorado Springs. I’m pretty excited about getting the show on the road!

This week was another incredible week with over 25 hours of running and riding. Lots of hills and the climbing legs are coming around on both the bike and the run. I set a PR running up Barr Trail Thursday, as well as rode over 8,500 ft vertical on Sunday, feeling strong on every climb. On a long run with CRUD, Friday, which was about 23 miles with just under 5,000 of climbing I mentioned to Paul DeWitt that this may be a bit much the week before a marathon. I absolutely love his answer. “It is for normal people, we are not normal people.”

With that said, I will not be tapering much for the Leadville Marathon nor the 50 mile Silver Rush. With the five events of the Leadman spread out over a month, and the last three in the last week, it would not be a good idea to taper for every race. The two 100 milers are the biggies, so I will treat the marathon and the Silver Rush as hard training runs/rides. I feel good, it seems like I’m getting stronger each week, I’m 51 years old and weigh the same as in high school, and just love every run and ride. Let the show begin!

This week’s training (playing) log:

Monday: Recover from the weekend no running/riding, just a strength workout. Core, upper & lower body.

Tuesday: Nice early morning run with Max. Ran the Santa Fe Trail through the Air Force Academy, then turned around after 7 miles. Ran 5 miles at tempo in 36:08. Coming back got to witness an incredible sunrise with the mountains in all their glory. The perfect way to start the day. Tuesday evening ran some errands on the bike to warm-up for the ProCycling hammer fest. We rode in Ute Park and I felt surprisingly good and was able to red line it when needed. Really fun ride, short and intense! Run: 1.9 hrs - 14 miles, Bike 2.8 hrs, 29 miles

Wednesday: This morning went on a mountain bike ride with a very old friend, Ralph Bateman. We have been friends for over 20 years and Ralph is responsible for getting me into cycling in the first place. I was an injured runner, and Ralph suggested riding a bike while recovering from injuries. I took up riding and it was 15 years before I started running again.

Ralph Riding Section 16

We had a great ride getting in some good climbs in Red Rocks, Entemann Trail, 2 times High Drive/Cap'n Jacks Loop, Columbine, and the Chutes. About 5 hours of riding with almost 6,000 feet of climbing.

Coming Down Cap'n Jacks

Thursday: Got up early and did an easy road ride for just under 3 hours. I wanted this to be a recovery ride of sorts, so I just tried to keep the ride reasonably flat and the heart rate down. In the evening was the CRUD Barr Trail hill climb run. I set a new PR to the 7.8 sign taking another 5 minutes off from last week. Yea the climbing legs seem to coming around.

Friday: CRUD long run. I can't not say enough how fun it is to run with these guys and gals. Today we did Williams Canyon, Waldo Canyon, Longs Ranch Road, Hurricane Canyon, Manitou Reservoir, Trail 609, and finally Barr Trail back to Manitou. Lot's of climbing, (especially Longs Ranch) back country trails, and deep forests. We were like kids on an adventure! ~ 23 miles, almost 5 hours, and just under 5,000 feet of climbing

Rick Leading the Way up Williams Canyon

CRUD_Run_Pictures

Saturday: Last week I mentioned that I really like running barefoot and wish I could run trails barefoot. Well I got an email from Tricia a friend who help pace me at my last 100. She told me about Vibram 5 Fingers (http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/). I tried a pair on and couldn't believe how good they feel. They look pretty funky though, Roswitha says it looks like I have frog feet. I went on a six mile run today and tested them on pavement, concrete, gravel bike paths, and a little bit of trail. A real trail test will have to wait, as Ute Park was too muddy due to rain last night. I think I will get to like these "shoes" a lot. Running on concrete and pavement will take some getting used to, as there is no padding at all. The bike path and trail were great. It felt just like running barefoot. You definitely get a feel for the ground. I ran six miles with ten 100 meter stride outs and felt great. I'm pretty psyched about these "shoes" and time will tell if they will work on long rocky trail runs. I will definitely be reporting on these as I run in them more. Roswitha will not let me where them in public while she's around though.

Sunday: Tour de Hills road ride. Met up with Kelly early in the morning. We just rode every long steep hill we could find on the West side of Colorado Springs, and there are plenty of them. As I mentioned last week, Kelly is a great friend and a fierce competitor. We have been taking turns beating each other up for years. We are about even in climbing so we can really push each other when doing a climbing workout. Flying W, Gold Camp, Cheyenne Canyon, Old Stage/Hill Road, the Zoo, Star Ranch, the Zoo again. All great climbs that we were able to push each other. After 3 ½ hours Kelly had to get home so I hit Cheyenne Canyon again, Orion, Gold Camp, Ridge Road, and Flying W on my way home. I couldn’t believe how good I felt on every climb. Even the ones at the end. Ended up with 73 miles and 8,560 ft of climbing in 5.8 hrs.

Kelly Coming up Gold Camp

Total for Week: Run 9.3 hrs - 53 miles, Bike 16.2 hrs - 171 miles

2009-06-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

View of Pikes Peak from Cameron's Cone

This week was a lot of hours at work, so workouts were cut short, but the weekend was fantastic! Monday, I was still pretty wasted from the previous weekend and worked late, so just used it as a rest day. Probably better to recover than force a workout.

Tuesday: Got up early and ran in Ute Park then two miles inside the track barefoot. This run felt incredible. I just wanted to run forever, but had to get to work. Ended up working 11 hours so missed the ProCycling hammer fest in the evening. The morning run sure was nice though! Run 1.5 hrs, 11 miles.

Wednesday: Great early morning hill repeats on the road bike. Was up at the crack of dawn for hill repeats as it would be another long day & late night at work. Since I was strapped for time, stayed in the neighborhood and rode 5 repeats up a .92 mile hill with average grade of 8.8% , averaging about 7 minutes each climb. Felt really good, the early morning sunrise was awesome and the mountains, as always, amazing. Just had to watch the descents because there were deer all over the place. I really felt like doing more but no time. The climbing legs are coming around!

Thursday: Another day in paradise! Got up very early this morning and ran with Max in Ute Park. It was just another beautiful morning with the sun rise and the mountains and the trails. About halfway through the run went over to Eagleview Middle School track and ran a couple of miles barefoot as well as a half dozen 100 meter stride outs. The more I run barefoot the more I like it. Maybe I'll start working on getting my feet tough enough to run on trails barefoot and not just grass. Hmmm that's a thought. We'll see. Rode my rode bike home from work. I figured with the long hours I'm working that's the best way to get a ride in.

Friday: Easy ride to work.

Saturday: Ahh the weekend! The Leadman events are getting ever closer! Two weeks from today the show begins. Went out to Breckenridge with Dan & Kara Durland. I've mentioned them before but they are worth mentioning again. These two are the toughest couple around, and in Colorado that is saying a lot. Both of them do 24 hour races, the Leadville Trail 100, and many other epics that literally chew up mountain bikers and spit them out. Dan & Kara do em all on single speeds. The non-finish ratio at the Leadville Trail 100 is very high for women on geared bikes. Kara finishes every year on a single speed. They are both studs of the highest realm. Today we went out so Dan could recon day three of the Breck Epic. This is a 6 day mountain bike stage race over high altitude and some of the toughest terrain anywhere. As always, he is doing the entire race on a single speed. Day three is supposed to be the easy day; 30 miles with 4,341 ft of climbing at an average altitude of 10,300 ft. It was a great ride.
Dan

Wahoo!

Sunday: Cameron's Cone. What a cool run! Most of it was hiking but it was super cool. Rick Hessek, Steve Bremner and I decided to do a little adventure run up to the top of Cameron's Cone then do some exploring from there. The climb up was steep and a lot of bushwacking.

Steve on the way up

At the top we were treated to incredible seldom seen views of Pikes Peak. Instead of going back the way we came, (which was dangerously steep) we went down the other side, bushwacking and following a creek. Came upon some old cabin ruins and trails here and there that we could actually run. We eventually came out on Barr Trail near the Experimental Forest and No Name Creek. We hadn't seen a single person in over 3 1/2 hours. Barr Trail seemed like a highway of hikers after that. Incredible, amazing run. Can't think of enough adjectives to describe it!

Rick & Steve at the Top

Total for Week: Run 7 hrs, 39 miles, Bike 7.5 hrs, 75 miles

More Pictures:

Sat-BreckRide

CameronsConeRun1

CameronsConeRun2

2009-06-21T19:01:00.000-07:00

Kelly Riding up Deadman's

It’s only three weeks from the first Leadman event, the Leadville Marathon which goes over the 13,000 foot Mosquito Pass. I’ve done a ton of hill running and everything seems to be coming around. This weekend was awesome. Got up early on Saturday and the weather didn’t look too great so decided to stick close to home vs. get caught way out in the mountains in some kind of hail/thunder/snow storm. I ran about 1 ½ hours with Max in Ute Park, brought him home, refilled water bottles and took off again. I really enjoyed the run and the longer I ran the more I enjoyed it. After 3 hours figured I was at 18 miles or so which would normally be a good run, but this is Leadman training, so that is barely a warm-up. Continued on, ran up what we call the “Scar” near Blodgett Peak and got another 3+ hours in for about 35 miles. I felt really good the entire run.

Our "Secret" Trail above the Air Force Academy

Today, Sunday, was an epic dream ride. Kelly McGrew and I go back a ways and have been taking turns beating each other for years at mountain bike races. Kelly is a fierce competitor, a good friend and riding buddy. He loves epic rides as much as I do. Today we road for 7 ½ hours on back woods trails, in which we saw nary a soul. This is what mountain bike riding is all about. And even after a 35 mile run yesterday, I felt great. Climbed strong and just loved every minute of it.

5 Hrs 43 min and still Nothing but Sweet Single Track!

The rest of the week was just as epic. Barefoot recovery runs, Barr Trail run with CRUD on Thursday, in which I improved my time another two minutes. On Wednesday, the only day I didn’t take my camera, a baby bear, just a tad bigger than Max came up and stood on his hind legs just a couple feet away. Of all times not to bring the camera!

Mon: Strength Workout/recovery
Tues: AM Run 2.2 hrs -16 miles, PM MTB Steep Hill Repeats 2.4 hrs – 24 miles
Wed: AM: Recovery run .9hrs – 7 miles (3 miles barefoot) PM Road Ride 3.8 hrs – 53 miles
Thurs: PM CRUD Run Barr Trail 2.5 hrs – 14 miles
Fri: Strength Workout/Recovery run .8 hrs – 6 miles (2 miles barefoot)
Sat: Long run 6.1 hrs – 35 miles (3600 ft climbing)
Sun: Long MTB Ride 7.5 hrs – 65 miles (5,900 ft climbing)

Total for week: Run 11.5 hrs – 78 miles, Bike 13.7 hrs – 142 miles

Good Training & Good Racing

2009-06-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

Heading Down Into Williams Canyon

It’s been a while. Training is going great and yesterday was the first big race of the season. The first week of June was a recovery week as it was time to recover from three 20+ hour weeks. I did a local one hour mountain bike race on Wednesday that week and had a blast. I was very happy that I was able to push it on the climbs. Wasn’t so great on the descents and that’s where I lost contact with 1st & 2nd place. Good race though. High intensity and felt good.

This week was back to the hard training. A good hard 14 mile tempo run on Tuesday morning, then the ProCycling hammer til you Puke Tuesday night ride. I’ve found on these rides I just have to keep the big picture in mind, swallow my pride, and accept getting dropped by guys I know I can out climb. Hard runs in the morning don’t make for super climbs in the evening.

Wednesday morning easy 6 mile barefoot run, then some fun technical mountain biking in the evening. Thursday, 1 hour tempo ride on Santa Fe Trail. Just as I was getting warmed up, I almost ran into a very large bear. Unfortunately he/she was moving too fast for me to stop and get a picture. Those things are amazingly fast and very elegant. He climbed some huge bolders like they weren’t there. My wife also encountered a bear earlier in the week while she was out running. Thursday evening the CRUD run up Barr Trail. I only did half of the incline, to back off a little bit for Saturday’s race. Then finally, Friday, an easy 5 mile barefoot run. Ready for the first big race of the season.

Still Snow in the Mountains (Winter Park)

Winter_Park has a mountain bike series that is just a lot of fun. The competition is as good as anywhere and the courses are incredible. The series starts with a hill climb that climbs a little over 2000 feet in 5 miles. Got a good warm-up by climbing half the race course then taking some insanely fun single track back down. The first race of the season always has me nervous. How are my legs going to feel? Maybe I should have trained less during the week. Has all this running made me slow on the bike? Blah blah blah. Then the gun goes off. Five miles uphill as fast as we can go. At Winter Park they typically start the juniors with us old guys and the first few races of the year they go at a full sprint from the start. We catch every one of them within the first mile. This year was no different. There was a group of three of us that separated from the pack and we duked it out for the first couple of miles until Keith Sanders (former Masters National Champ) started to pull away. I tried to stay with him but he eventually opened a gap. I was able to open a gap with the third guy and was super motivated as I got into a rhythm. In my head I just kept chanting Go! Go! Go! I was able to keep Keith in sight for a while but could never quite close in. He slowly but surely increased his lead until I lost him. It looked like I was riding for second. When we crossed the line there were already two other guys in our race finished. Huh. Turns out they sprinted off the line with the juniors and I never noticed. So instead of second I was fourth. Ha! Great race though and a lot of fun. Sharon & I rode another 2 hours on some of the best single track in the world. Total climbing on the day - just under 5,000 ft. Very happy with the first race.

Waldo Canyon

Today, Sunday, was my longest run so far this year. I felt great most of the time. 6 hrs 32 min of mountain running, just a little over 6,000 ft of climbing, not sure of the distance but I’m guessing around 35 miles. Started out by climbing Rampart Range Rd then dropped down into Williams Canyon. An absolutely beautiful morning. Climbed out of Williams Canyon and did a loop around Waldo Canyon. Dropped down to Hwy 24 then started the long steep climb up Long’s Ranch Road. I think I may of ran too much of the climb, cause Long’s Ranch destroyed me. It was a very tough decision once I hit Barr Trail to continue climbing to Barr Camp. I had one of those little discussions with myself about how the Leadville 100 will be much harder and if I quit here it will be easier to quite in the race blah blah blah. So I continued on to Barr Camp. It was slow going but I made it. After taking a short break at Barr Camp the run back down to Manitou Springs was easy and fun. I really like this stuff!

Another Day in Paradise!

2009-05-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful day in paradise! Today I knew I would be tired. I could feel it coming. A culmination of three hard weeks, each with over 20 combined running/riding hours. This week was particularly hard, with over 21,000 ft of climbing thrown in.

Left from home & met Dan at the top of Chutes early in the morning and we headed up Gold Camp, then up St. Mary’s Falls on a loop that lead us back to Gold Camp. It was evident that I was tired and I couldn’t keep up with Dan. He mentioned something about his wife being faster on a single speed. We did an hour of steady climbing up Gold Camp before we hit Old Stage.

One of the Tunnels on Gold Camp

At this point we up to abut 9,500 ft and I had no power. I seemed fine as long as I went my own pace, but trying to keep up with Dan was killing me. And it was frustrating for him to be waiting on me. So we split. I headed down Old Stage looking for a trail I’d never been on that Dan pointed out on the map, and Dan headed for Jones Park.

Dan Checking the Map

It took some looking but I eventually found the trail. It’s a very isolated single track along a ridge and the scenery is incredible. I was pretty tired though and kept making mistakes. After the second crash I got to thinking. "This is a very remote trail, if I crash and get hurt it could be days before I’m found. This is also very dense mountain lion country, not a good combination." I scared myself enough to turn around.

Riding "The Trail"

Once I got down to Cheyenne Canyon at 7,000 ft or so I felt much better and rode the normal combination of trails back home: up the Chutes, Section 16, Entemann, Red Rocks, Garden of the Gods, Ute Park. I felt much better the last 2 ½ hours than the first 3 ½. Go figure.

Garden of the Gods from Red Rocks

Next week is nothing but recovery and racing. Sand Creek Mountain Bike Race Wednesday evening, and the "Dirty Thirty" 50K running race on Saturday. These last three weeks have been pretty incredible. It’s nice to be home!

Total for Week:
Run: 9.9 hrs, 60 miles
Bike: 13.3 hrs, 139 miles

Running and Loving the Trails!

2009-05-30T20:02:00.000-07:00

The Start of another Epic Run

Another Epic CRUD run. We had a pretty big group and it was just fun right from the beginning. There were different goals with today’s run so we started together for an hour of so then started splitting up on different routes. Some guys like Rick Hessik, Paul Smith, and John Genet were running for over 6 hours! Most of the group was planning on running about 3 hours, while my goals was about 25 miles. I ran from home to the Santa Fe Trail head, met up with Team CRUD and we ran north toward the Air Force Academy, through miles of horse trails, then the Falcon Trail. After a few miles on the Falcon Trail we split, some going up Stanley Canyon, while myself, John, Keith, and Carl continued on the Falcon Trail. Falcon Trail is a 13 mile rolling loop around the Air Force Academy. It’s a great run and ride. It’s amazing the amount and variety of trails we have here.

There were a few water crossings

After completing the Falcon loop, Keith, Carl and I headed back to the Santa Fe Trail and eventually the trailhead of this morning meeting. John, although not feeling too enthused about it, continued alone for another lap of the Falcon Trail. It was getting close to 80 degrees. Once we got back to the trailhead, Carl had 22.5 miles on his GPS, and I still had to run the two miles back home. It seemed like a good idea when I left in the morning. No biggy, that’s what the Leadman is all about, continuing when you don’t feel like it. So I ran the rest of the way home, feeling surprisingly strong. I must not have looked that way, because as I was running up my street, I seem to be getting a lot of "that poor guy" looks. Tomorrow is a big bike day, then I’ll take it easy until the Sand Creek Mountain Bike Race on Wed.

Here comes Team CRUD

Run: 4.3 hrs, 26 miles

What a Week So Far

2009-05-30T19:11:00.000-07:00

Now I am into the heart of Leadman training. This has been an incredible week so far, I will definitly need to recover next week. As my Leadman training builds, I am finding less and less time for the blog. So here is the week so far. I'm really happy with how things are coming along.

Mon: Strength workout. Went pretty hard today. Focused on core as usual, but went harder on upper and lower body. Also went hiking with my son Jesse, who is back from Iraq!

Tues: Strange day today. Got up early for a 14 mile run & just didn’t feel very peppy. With Leadman hanging over my head, I can’t skip a run just I don’t feel "peppy". A lot of times I start feeling better once I get running anyway. Out of bed and on the trail. I kind of slogged through the run but never really felt good, even a bit in a bad mood. Felt tired and stiff throughout the run. Stiff most of the day afterward, actually falling asleep a couple times in front of my computer at work. Now the strange part. The evening ProCycling ride was great! It was a kick butt ride! I felt strong right from the beginning. On the first climb I felt strong and stayed with the big boys about ½ way through the climb. I even got stupid and tried to go to the front. Well that didn’t last long, and the lead guys cranked it up a notch and started to pull away. They weren’t pulling away real fast though, and I was determined to keep them in sight all the way to the top. The last part of the climb kicks it up pretty steep and I was on the verge of puking, but was able to keep them in site. The second climb, I actually was right with the leaders all the way to the top, going over third! Stoked! This was a night where everything clicked. Wonder why the morning was so weird?

Run: 2.1 hrs, 14 miles
Bike: 1.1 hrs, 18 miles

Wed: Today was recovery from yesterday and rest for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a big day. Morning run to Eagle View Middle School then 2 miles barefoot on the grass inside the track, then back home. In the evening, just played around on the mountain bike for an hour, working on technical stuff in Ute Park. Nice relaxing fun.

Run: 0.8 hrs, 6 miles
Bike: 1 hr, 8.2 miles

Thurs: A big day! A climbing day! Early morning ride to Cheyenne Canyon for three repeats to the top. My goal was for each repeat to be faster. Times were slow I accomplished my goal. I was also working on using as big as gear as possible, sort of like weight lifting on the bike. Each climb is 3.1 miles with average grade of 7.3%. The first mile is relatively flat so the second part is steeper. After the third repeat, about ½ way down I saw Dan D coming up. He was suppose to do the workout with me, but I guess it was too early and he couldn’t get away from hugging his pillow. I turned around and rode to the top with him, which turned out to be 1.4 miles with avg grade 8.2%. Rode home from there, which was another hour, and added the Flying W climb, because it’s a tradition, for a total of a little over 6,000 ft of climbing. This was only the beginning of the fun! In the evening, the CRUD Barr Trail Time Trial. This is a timed run 4.5 miles up Barr Trail with an avg. grade of 11.2%. After that we go for a run. I surprised myself tonight, as I walked a lot more than I did last week but was 3 minutes faster. Stoked again. Great ride Tues, brutal hill workout this morning, and now 3 minutes faster than last week. I think training is coming along. I have to admit these times are not fast, but they are improving.

Bike: 3.9 hrs, 48 miles 6000+ ft climbing.
Run: 2.7 hrs, 14 miles 3360ft climbing.

Fri: Legs were pretty sore today. Loosened them up a bit with a good strength workout, then an easy spin downtown in the afternoon running errands, like buying new running shoes. Big run tomorrow.
Bike 1.2 hrs, 15 miles

Thoughts on the Ride

2009-05-24T14:45:00.000-07:00

Blogett Peak

Had a very nice relaxing 70-mile ride on quiet Colorado country roads today. I stayed on the north end of town riding a loop through the Air Force Academy, Roller Coaster Rd, County Line Rd, and into Palmer Lake then everything in reverse. Although there were no big climbs there were lots of rollers and I still ended up with over 5,100 ft of climbing. As I was riding I started thinking about all the training I do and why I do it. Is it because of the Leadman? Is it because I’m crazy? Why would I run for five hours on Saturday then ride for another five hours on Sunday, and do hill repeats and time trials throughout the week? And all this while maintaining a full time job. The only thing I can think of is it’s what I absolutely love to do. I don’t look at it as work or training or torture at all. I just love running and riding my bike. If I could do it for a living I would. When you think about it, anyone that trains to compete in cycling or running without making a living at it has to love it. Why else would they get up hours before work for a ride, or rush in a run at lunch, or force themselves out on the bike or a run after a full day at work; for free. I can’t think of a single professional athlete that gets up extra early before training, or squeezes in time at lunch, or after a day of training, drags him or herself into a cubicle to sit in front of a computer, for free. So I don’t think I do this because of the Leadman. I think the Leadman is an excuse for me to do something I love; justification I guess. I am just so thankful that I am lucky enough to be able to do what I truly love, and that is run, ride my bike, and appreciate this incredible planet. Leadman is just icing on the cake.

Week Total:
Bike: 8.6 hrs, 128 miles
Run: 10.5 hrs, 60 miles

Another Epic CRUD Run

2009-05-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

Barr Camp in Pouring Rain

Another Epic CRUD Run. These runs are too fun to be considered training! This was a typical CRUD long run with lots of climbing, getting lost, and enjoying the mountains. It rained off and on throughout to make things more adventurous. Our little adventure started in Manitou and headed up William’s Canyon. Paul DeWitt’s dad joined us from VA, so he had a serious altitude adjustment to make but did just fine. Williams Canyon is a rocky uphill run that eventually takes us to the top of Waldo Canyon. We did a short spin through Waldo Canyon to Long’s Ranch Road. I not sure what this road was used for in earlier times, but it is pretty much closed to the public now. It is STEEP & LONG. After slogging up Long’s Ranch Road, we regrouped at the top & continued through the Experimental Forest (sounds like a scene from Wizard of Oz) to Barr Trail, which goes to the top of Pike’s Peak. We were only on Barr Trail for a little bit and turned off & up the pipeline trail, which was a new trail for me. I found out why it’s called the pipeline trail when we crossed a bridge across a canyon with a pipeline running across it. Well it was actually just lying there. From there we ran up and up and up following the cog railroad tracks until we came to a rest stop for cog railroad passengers. From there we took a trail that we thought would take us back to Barr Trail but it petered out so we bushwhacked it. Eventually found Barr Trail and ran it up to Barr Camp, which is about ½ way to the top of Pikes Peak. A quick break and we headed down in a steady rain to Manitou, about a seven mile descent. Fun Times!

Run_Pics

Run: 4.9 hrs, 25 - 27 miles? 5,100+ ft of climbing

Setting a Basline

2009-05-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

Recovery Run in Ute Park

This was a week for establishing baselines. CRUD does a 4 ½ mile time trial every Thursday up Barr Trail. It’s a brutal uphill run with an average grade of 11 ½ percent. ProCycling started a semi-weekly time trial on road bikes up Cheyenne Canyon. This is a climb of 3.1 miles with an average grade of 7 percent. So I’m integrating these time trials into my LeadMan training. Cheyenne Canyon went pretty well, it was far off my best time but wasn’t my slowest. I think my time up Barr Trail the next day was pretty close to my slowest. No biggy, I’ve been a flatlander most of this year, so I don’t expect to run a 4 ½ miles straight up to an altitude of about 9,500 ft very fast. It was raining most of the run on Barr Trail, so it wasn’t too hot. Now I've got a baseline to improve upon this summer. Hopefully by the end of July or beginning August I’ll be surpassing my best time from my younger days. That would be a good sign.

Max after a Run in the Rain

It’s been a good week so far. Lot’s of quality running and riding with good recovery. I won’t be able to do the two races I had planned this weekend. Due to the uncertainty of work/travel status, I didn’t register until the races were full. No worries, I’ll try to simulate them this weekend. So far this week:

Mon: Strength training, primarily core
Tues: Run – 1.9 hrs, 14 miles w/5 miles relaxed tempo in 35:36. Bike - 1.3 hrs, 22 miles w/2 * 8 min hill repeats & 5 * 3 min steep hill repeats
Wed: Run - .9 hrs, 6 miles w/1 ½ miles barefoot in grass. Bike – 2.3 hrs, 23 miles w/Cheyenne Canyon TT in 21:14
Thurs: Run - 1.9 hrs, 9 miles w/Barr Trail TT in 1:07:58
Fri: Run - .8 hrs, 6 miles w/2 miles barefoot in grass. Strength training primarily core

What a Week!

2009-05-19T20:20:00.000-07:00

The Incline Just to Right of Pike's Peak

This has been an awesome week getting back into the swing of things. After going six months with hardly seeing a hill, I’m surprised at how well I was able to get back into the hill workouts. Got in plenty of hills on the bike and running. Tuesday morning started with a 12 mile run w/ 100 meter sprints scattered throughout then in the evening the good ol high intensity "climb so hard you puke" team ride. I was shocked when I was able to keep up with the main group.

Wednesday an easy recovery run to include a mile of running barefoot, Thursday morning some technical mountain biking in Ute Park followed by an 18 mile slightly uphill time trial from Ice Lake to Palmer Lake on Santa Fe Trail. Again another surprise; my time was among my best. Came upon some Burro racers training on Santa Fe Trail. Only in Colorado! Thursday evening Max & I climbed the Incline then ran to Barr camp at 10,200 ft, which is about halfway to the top of Pikes Peak, then 7 miles back down to Manitou Springs.

Burro Racers

Going to the Incline

On Friday, I almost lost my little buddy Max. We did an easy hike vs. running as my quads were pretty beat up from the downhill running on Thursday. We were passing through a field, Max chased a rabbit over a ridge and I heard him yelp on the other side. I started running toward the ridge when he came running back through the field with two coyotes twice his size in pursuit. One was behind and the other was circling around to head him off. I ran toward them screaming at the top of my lungs and got there at the exact moment he was caught from behind. The coyote heading him off was within two seconds of striking. I ran in kicking and screaming and both coyotes gave up the chase and ran off with me chasing them screaming at the top of my lungs. That was scary, two seconds slower and Max wouldn’t be here today.

Team CRUD in the Clouds

Saturday, a magic four hour run into the clouds with CRUD up Cap’n Jack’s to Frosty’s (10,000 ft) and the base of Mt Rosa (10,500 ft). We had to traverse several snow fields in the high country and since it was an overcast day we were literally running in the clouds. It was a great Leadman training run with over 4,500 feet of climbing.

Snow in the High Country

Finally on Sunday, went on an awesome six hour mountain ride with one of my best riding buds, Sharon Larson. This ride covered it all; big climbs, big scenery, big descents, technical, rocky, six hours of single track bliss, with just over 6,100 feet of climbing. It is so good to be back!

Headin Down Trail 666

CRUD_RUN_PICS

SUN_MTB_PICS

Sun: Mountain Bike - 6 hrs, 45 miles, 6,100 ft climbing
Sat: Run - 4.1 hrs, 18 miles, 4,500 ft climbing
Fri: Hike with sprint training
Thurs: Mountain Bike – 3.5 hrs (0.9 hrs TT), 46 miles, Run – 3.3 hrs, 14 miles
Wed: Run – 0.8 hrs, 5.5 miles
Tues: Run 1.6 hrs, 12 miles, Road Bike – 2.5 hrs, 39 miles, 3219 ft climbing
Mon: CORE Strength workout

Back on the Bike!

2009-05-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Finally! Had a great mountain bike ride Sunday. First time on the bike in a month. It felt great. Went to Ute Park and did some technical riding. I was very surprised at how well I was riding and how good it felt on the climbs. Since I was feeling so strong, rode over to Red Rocks to do some longer steeper climbs and felt great. Added Intemann Trail, and a couple more climbs and had just a stellar day. Saw something interesting on the way home. A sheriff had a car pulled over and the contents of the trunk were on the ground. I thought "drug bust". A closer look revealed that the sheriff was changing the front tire. Wow, he took the logo "To Serve and Protect" to heart. I've never seen that before. Just made a great day even greater.

Sunday, May 10: Mountain Bike, 3.4 hours, 29 miles WoooHooo!

Back In Colorado Again!

2009-05-09T20:08:00.000-07:00

Pike's Peak (Click to enlarge)

WHOOOHOOO! Finally back Home! Man it’s been a very long hard 4 weeks on the road (and 3 ½ months before that). I can’t even begin to describe how happy I am to be home. With all the travel, getting up at 4 am to run, working all day & night, it seems like I haven’t seen the sun in weeks. Even though it rained all week, and I worked all day and late into the evening I still managed to get up and run in the dark every morning. Coming home is paradise. This week I got a total of 55 miles of running and zero biking. I haven’t even seen a bike for a month. I celebrated coming home by running one of my favorite loops at Rampart Reservoir. It’s a fairly flat run, but beautiful with an average altitude of just over 9000 ft. I haven’t run a hill in over a month so I decided not to do an extreme hilly route. This run was magic! It did wonders for my soul. I am so happy to be back in the mountains! My goal was to run at least 3 hours. I did a loop around Rampart Reservoir in a little over 2 hours, then ran another hour just enjoying the mountains and trails, being back home, and my favorite running buddy in the whole world, Max.

My Bestest Running Buddy in the Whole Wide World

Saturday, May 9: Run 3.2 hrs, 22 miles
Friday, May 8: Run .7 hrs, 5 miles
Thur. May, 7: Run 1.5 hrs, 11 miles
Wed. May, 6: Run .7 hrs, 5 miles
Tues. May, 5: Run 1.2 hrs, 8.5 miles
Mon. May, 4: Run .6 hrs, 4 miles
Total for Week: Run 7.9 hrs, 55.5 miles

Set Backs

2009-05-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

This last week has been pretty exhausting and frustrating. Got to San Diego and woke up the next morning with a sore throat and feeling pretty groggy. We worked very long days Mon & Tues and I just wasn't feeling 100%. My joints were sore and I just couldn't get going even on an easy run. On Wed, got up at 3:30 am for a 6 am flight to Columbus, OH. Pretty much zero time to run or workout. In Columbus we worked very long hours again and on my flight home to Colorado Springs, whatever was bothering me all week came down like a hammer. I got home went to bed and didn't get back up for over 24 hours. When I did, I had a fever of 100.7 and my throat was so sore I had a hard time swallowing liquids. Still had work to complete before I leave for Washington DC tomorrow. I guess working long hours and travelling to 4 time zones in a week kind of wore me down. Especially since I was trying to force training too. Well it's been 3 weeks off the bike, no running the last three days, I'm sick as a dog and heading out of town for another week. Times like these will make crossing that finish line that much sweeter.

Leaving DC Headin to San Diego

2009-04-25T19:01:00.000-07:00

Well I am glad to be leaving DC. Headin to my stomping grounds in CA. Won't have my bike, but at least I'll have the opportunity to get some decent trail runs in. Nothing extremely hilly, but it will be nice to run on some rough trails. San Diego is becoming my home away from home. Run down for the second week in DC:

Fri, April 24: Started the day with an early morning recovery run. Took a new route through different neighborhoods and enjoyed the morning songbirds for an easy, relaxing 4 miles. Only worked 10 hours today so got a good workout in the gym. Heading for San Diego tomorrow! I’m really glad to be leaving DC but sure wish I had my bike.

Thurs, April 23: Today we had to be to work early, so I decided to cut my run down to 9 miles from the planned 12. Got up at four and with no dilly-dallying, was on the street by 4:10. Ran a pretty easy pace out about 4 1/2 miles then turned around. On the way back I got so deep in thought that I didn’t pay attention and the next thing I knew I had no clue where I was. Continued running until I found Virginia Ave, a street I ran earlier. Finally came to a spot that I recognized and was back on track. Turned out I ran a two mile circle and was back where I was 20 minutes before. So I got an impromptu speed workout running the last 2 ½ miles back to the hotel, for a total of 11 miles.

Wed, April 22: Very easy 4 ½ mile recovery run early in the morning. Felt a little stiff from yesterday’s run, so started out nice and easy until the legs started loosening up. It was just nice to be outside and listen to the morning songbirds. The rest of the day will be indoors, sitting on my butt and wearing a tie. It was a short easy run, but today’s only sanity check.

Tues, April 21: Didn’t get to do anything Monday due to a very long day at work. Today got up at 4:15 and ran 12 miles in the neighborhoods near the hotel. Felt really good today and kept a pretty brisk pace. Again, even though it was overcast and raining a little bit, the singing of birds as the night drifted into day was incredible. I was feeling particularly good this morning so the last 4 miles I lifted the pace to where it felt like I was racing. I imagined I was in the last 4 miles of the Akron Marathon feeling great and hammering to the finish. It was a good feeling. In the evening I did a quick workout in the hotel gym. The hotel gym equipment was not very good at all, but we worked late and I didn’t have time to go to the real gym. A little of something is better than lot of nothing.

Training in Virginia

2009-04-19T12:35:00.000-07:00

Great Falls

Sun, April 19: Today was an awesome trail run in River Bend & Great Falls state parks just north of McLean, VA. Who’d a thought that something so awesome as these parks exist in this extreme urban area. Miles and miles of single track through beautiful woods with singing birds, abundant wild life, and sections of steep hills; it was spiritual! At the end of 23 miles I was feeling so much energy and joy from this run I didn’t want to stop. However, the reality of risking overtraining and the fact I was out of water made me decide to end the adventure. It was truly an awesome run!

SeePictures

Sat, April 18: Started the day with indoor cycling at the McLean Racket & Health Club. 1 ½ hours of sub threshold intervals on one of those stationary bikes with the big fat saddle. Man those saddles are uncomfortable. After the bike workout, ran in River Bend & Great Falls on the recommendation from a colleague at work. Had planned on doing an easy 5 mile recovery run, but the trails were so awesome I couldn’t stop exploring. I finally called it at 7 miles. I am definitely coming back tomorrow for more exploring!

Fri, April 17: Got up early before work and ran through the neighborhoods near the hotel. Nice rolling hills with some pretty impressive houses. The streets are lighted enough to be like daylight and there’s no traffic this early in the morning. This whole area is old wood forest and the houses are built without taking down all the trees. As the sun comes up the birds are incredible. Its like a concert put on by nature. What a way to start the day! 1.4 hrs and 9.5 miles.

Thurs, April 16: Easy five mile recovery run before work through the neighborhood near the hotel. Legs were feeling pretty beat up from running so much pavement yesterday. Just took it easy and even though it was raining, still enjoyed the magic of night turning to day. After work went to the gym for a full body strength workout as well as a 1 hour spin session. Our spinning class included some eight very tough 2 minute Vo2 max intervals. I had a couple minor problems in that I’m still not used to those big fat saddles and when we were going really hard, I pulled my foot out of the pedal a couple times. Good workout though considering I’m here without a bike.

Wed, April 15: Got up at four AM to run a paved trail (W & OD) not too far from the hotel. It’s a pretty nice trail and I just ran a steady pace in the dark for a little over six miles before turning around. What was really cool about this run is the sounds of nature all around. The trail travels through marsh areas, old forests, golf courses, residential areas. Throughout the run there seemed to be massive amounts of birds singing, crickets chirping and other sounds of nature. It was like running in a concert. I felt great the entire run, but a little beat up from the pavement at the end.

Tues, April 14: Went to the gym and participated in a spinning class or as the instructor called it, indoor cycling training. The instructor is a cyclist and doesn’t teach spinning. The bikes are the spinning type bikes with the strap on pedals (that keep coming un-tightened) and BIG FAT SADDLES. Those saddles are intimidating! We had a good workout though, with a thorough warm-up then a series of sub threshold intervals. Actually the perfect type of training for me right now, under the circumstances.

Mon: April 13: Flew to Washington/Dulles then drove to the hotel. Found a gym (The McLean Racket & Health) club less then two minutes walking distance from the hotel. The hotel has a membership so guests can use it for free. Excellent! Went over and did a full body strength workout, focusing on core. Also picked up a copy of their spinning schedule. Gonna make this work!

Total for Week:

Bike: 3.6 hrs, 52 miles

Run: 8.8 hrs, 57 miles

Highs & Lows

2009-04-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

This was the kind of week that will test one’s patience and resolve. A week with ups and downs, highs and disappointments. The week started off very well. Monday was a complete recovery day as I was wasted from last week. Tuesday, I didn’t run in the morning and had a great ride at the Tuesday ProCycling "ride until you puke". I felt great, was able to go at very high intensity and hold my own with the fast guys. Big difference when you don’t do a hard run before the ride. This had me pretty psyched for DawnTillDusk on Saturday. The rest of the week, I pretty much took it easy. An easy six mile run on Wednesday morning followed by an easy ride home from work in the afternoon.

Thursday, an easy ride to work with a half dozen hard sprints just to wake up what little fast twitch muscles I have and that was it for the week. I felt rested and ready for Saturday. Then just as I was getting ready to leave work, I learned that I will be travelling all over the country for a month starting Monday. Instead of going home, I spent the rest of the night coordinating and making travel arrangements. Because of the amount of travel involved I won’t be able to take my bike. 4 ½ weeks of no riding. I’ll also miss a couple of races. I was bummed.

Friday, drove 500+ miles to Gallup, NM for DawnTillDusk. I felt good and was excited about the first race of the season. I really wanted to give it my all since I won’t be riding for a while. Got up Saturday morning and there is a steady downpour of snow and rain. Been raining steady since midnight. The race site was a mud pit. Only four wheel drive vehicles could even get to the venue. At the pre-race meeting we were informed that the race will be delayed and a decision will be made at 10 if it will be cancelled. Shortly after, the sun came out and there was hope. At 10 we were informed that the course is un-ridable and even un-walkable in many sections. They will check conditions again and possibly have a Noon til 7 race. Then it started snowing hard. Big wet flakes. Race cancelled.

Waiting on Race Decision

The excitement for the day was queueing up to climb up the mud bog hill to leave the venue. Each vehicle waited for the one in front to clear the hill before he/she would try. Any non-four wheel drives that came down the night before were not leaving until Sunday at the earliest. So we mudded our way out and drove 500+ miles back home where it was dry and warm.

Waiting for Turn up the "Mud Bog"

Sunday, woke up and it’s snowing big heavy wet flakes. Looks like the New Mexico storm hit Colorado. Had to do something so I got on the trainer. I decided that since I couldn’t ride 12 hours outside, I would ride 6 hours inside. Warmed up for about 15 minutes, then put on the Spinervals "Hardcore 100" training DVD, and blasted the stereo. The "Hardcore 100" DVD is a workout with 5 ½ hours of progressively harder intervals. Starts out fairly easy, increases to moderate intensity, and the last hour is very intense. I felt great and finished very strong. Oh if only I could have raced yesterday!

6 Hours & 116 Miles on the Trainer

So now I’ve got to radically alter my training. I leave tomorrow for DC. Over the next month I will be in San Diego, Irving, TX and back to DC. I think I will be restricted to running, but if I can swing it, maybe I can find a gym and possibly get into a spinning class now and then. This certainly is a set back, but somehow, I’ll work it out.

Sun: Bike – 6 hrs, 116 miles
Thurs: Bike – 1.3 hrs, 19.5 miles
Wed: Run - .9 hrs, 6.2 miles, Bike – 1.7 hrs, 19.5 miles
Tues: Bike (MTB) – 1.8 hrs, 15.6 miles, Core Strength - .8 hrs

A Rough Week

2009-04-05T18:23:00.000-07:00

This was a pretty rough week. The weather was cold and windy all week and on every group ride I got spanked. I’m sure the running has a lot to do with that. I sure am starting to feel old riding with all these young fast guys. Next week is the first big test. The DawnTillDusk Mountain Bike Race in Gallup, NM. Total for week:

Run: 8 hrs, 50 miles
Bike: 12 hrs, 142 miles

The Old Guy with ProCycling Studs (Click to enlarge)

Sunday: After dealing with the wind and trying to keep up with the young guys yesterday I was completely exhausted. I crawled to bed around 8:30 and slept until 8:00. Woke up feeling pretty good. The sun was shining, but it was still windy and cold. I decided to run and not really plan where. Make it up as I go along. Headed for Ute Valley, ran a loop, then over to the middle school where Roswitha was running laps on the track. Ran a couple of miles with her then headed back to Ute Valley. I was feeling really good today and even though there was a stiff cold wind, it didn’t bother me. I was enjoying the run and so was Max. We ran several long loops and after 18 miles started heading toward home. Max is incredible. We had just covered 20 miles and once we got to within a mile of the house, he started sprinting through all his "known rabbit hideouts" like we had just started! When we got home he absolutely had to go clear the back yard of any rabbits or squirrels.
Run: 3.6 hrs, 21 miles 2,260’ climbing

Max, My best Running Buddy

Saturday: Saturday was a tough day. I could hear the wind howling from my bed. Got up to see light snow blowing sideways, not good. Went for a 5 mile run with Max and the wind was ridicules. Strong, frigid and miserable. I also felt tired. Got home, ate and headed for the team ride. It was about an hour ride to where we met and I had a tail wind so even though I was tired, it felt like I was flying. Because of the weather, we had a rather small turn out; six. With the exception of me they were all young fast guys and at least two of them, Doug & Kalan, pro.

Doug Ryden

We had a good ride in Cheyenne Canyon, although I was getting dropped a lot and when I did hang on I was struggling. Going home was rough. Against an even stronger & colder headwind. I got caught by a side wind and was actually blown off the bike path. Shortly after that I came upon the always-comical group of Hash House Harriers. They were spread out all over the woods looking for beer. I’m sure when they found it, it was cold! Ducked into Ute Valley to get some more single-track riding and escape the wind. Once I got home I was exhausted both mentally & physically. For the first time this year, I felt like I was my age.

Run: .8 hrs, 5 miles
Bike: 4.8 hrs, 42 miles, 4,140’ climbing

Friday: An easy relaxing ride to work. Left around 5:30. Weather was beautiful, clear and in the 30s. Again, the mountains looked pristine as the early morning sunrise reflected their snowcaps. Makes you feel great to be alive! In the evening got an unexpected ride. As I headed for my truck after work, I realized I forgot my keys. Not planning on riding home, I stuffed my morning riding clothes in my backpack. Pulled them out and they were soaked. Yuk! Rode home in wet smelly clothes in a pretty stiff head wind. Luckily it wasn’t super cold.
Bike: 3.1 hrs, 39 miles

Thursday: Got up at 4:30 and went on 12 mile run with Max in fresh snow from snowstorm last night. Absolutely beautiful! Nothing like running in fresh snow on mountain trails early in the morning. Treading the first footprints and being dark, sometimes I had a hard time following the trail. As in the past I just relied on Max and let him show me the way. Every now and then we came upon Coyote tracks so I made sure I Max was always in sight. At about 4 miles we came upon very fresh, what I believe to be, mountain lion tracks. Yikes! From that point I made Max run at my side. I certainly don’t want Max becoming mountain lion breakfast. As the sun rose, I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be out here running. The scene was simply amazing. What a way to start the day.

In the evening, rode home from work at a good tempo. Lengthened the route so I could get two 30 minute tempo sections without having to stop for traffic lights or stop signs. The route home from work is pretty good for tempo riding as home is a few hundred feet higher than the office. It was a great ride, and it is obvious that taking it easy yesterday was the right thing to do. I feel totally recharged!
Run: 1.7 hrs, 12 miles
Bike: 1.6 hrs, 22 miles

Wednesday: Felt really tired today. I had planned on riding to and from work but just couldn’t drag my tired but out of bed early enough to ride, so I drove. My plan for riding home was squelched when another snowstorm hit right about time to go. I was still feeling pretty run down and decided to listen to my body. I went home and rode 1 hour on the trainer focusing on relaxing and hi rpm spinning. This helped work some of the stiffness out of my legs and hopefully will give me a nice rest to get recharged.
Bike: 1 hour, ? miles

Cranking up the Intensity

2009-03-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

Got up nice and early this morning for a good 12 ½ mile run. It wasn’t quite as early as in San Diego, (5 instead of 4) so that was nice. It was cold though. I estimated it to be in the mid teens. My water bottle was frozen after an hour. The trails were pretty clear of snow so the footing was good. Started out with a 2 1/2 mile warm-up then 6 miles at tempo in 45:51. Finished up with an easy four miles that was starting to feel kind of tough toward the end. Most people don’t know this, but this is an excellent way to start the morning. Much better than coffee!

Although it was an excellent workout this morning, I felt it the rest of the day. I was pretty stiff at work, and had to get up and walk around several time to work the kinks out. The stiffness wasn’t gone when we started our Tuesday night ProCycling climb until you puke ride. I was in trouble right from the beginning. Even as we approached the first climb I was having trouble hanging on. Like last week, I was dropped like I wasn’t even there. This time it was by guys I have out climbed in the past. Ouch. I started feeling better at the steepest part of the climb and my legs sort of woke up after that. The second and steepest climb I was able to at least hang on, dangling at the back while everyone else was attacking and counter attacking each other. And to think I almost turned around and went home after the first climb.

Run: 1.7 hrs, 12.5 miles/w 6 mile tempo in 45:51
Bike: 1.5 hrs, 20.6 miles

Time to Get Vertical

2009-03-29T17:46:00.000-07:00

An epic day in the saddle! Got the gang together and we proceeded to get some serious vertical today. Awesome! We have a road ride which can take on several variations we call "Tour de Hills". It’s a very cool ride because there is almost no traffic, never leaves town, and comprises serious climbing. Today, 70 miles and 8,180 feet. The weather was perfect and our group a blast, and just another day in paradise!

The Tribe Gathers

Kara Climbing to the Zoo

Dan & the "Gouge Man" Climbing Cheyenne Canyon

Climbing Gold Camp

Bike 6.0 hrs, 70 miles, 8,180’ climing
Week Total:
Run: 7.4 hrs, 46.1 miles
Bike: 12.6 hrs, 151 miles

More Pics:http://picasaweb.google.com/larry.dewitt/TourDeHills#

Running in Winter Paradise

2009-03-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

CRUD Stampede Headin for the Trailhead

Another incredible day training for Leadman. It seems like I use that word a lot, maybe I should find another one. On the other hand, I can’t help it. It is just so awesome to be privileged, blessed, whatever you want to call it to be able to train for something like this. At 51 years old I’m still going out and doing the same things I loved to do in High School; running and riding my bike! And as I’ve said before, Colorado Springs is an absolutely perfect place to train. There is no shortage of studs in Colorado Springs either. Tuesday I’m riding with Norm Alvis and Matt Simmons and at the CRUD runs, guys like Paul DeWitt (no relation), Anton Krupicka, & Rick Hessek are regulars. Paul is former Leadville 100 Trail Run course record holder, Anton 2 time winner of the same race, and Rick finishes in the top 5 of every race he enters. Not to mention Paul and Anton have numerous course records all over the country. And these guys don’t mind running/riding with regular old guys like me!

The Saturday CRUD run started in Manitou Springs with a seven mile climb to the Palmer Trail Head.

Regrouping about half way up the Initial Climb

Once on Palmer Trail we broke trail through fresh snow, which was quite a bit of work, but just adds to the adventure! Palmer Trail was primarily descending until we came to the Section 16 Trail Head, then we started climbing again. My legs did not want to cooperate after running downhill for 30 minutes or so. I pushed through it and after a while they started coming back. We ran the rolling Intemann Trail back to Manitou for a total 18.6 miles. We hit altitudes of 8700 feet with an average altitude of 7500 feet. Just under 3,000 feet of climbing. I love going out an playing in the mountains! Re-grouping before Heading Down Palmer Trail

Run: 3.3 hrs, 18.6 miles
More Pics at: http://picasaweb.google.com/larry.dewitt/CRUDRunPalmerIntemannTrailMarch09?feat=email#

More Pics from Steve Bremner:

http://picasaweb.google.com/swbremner/20090328CrystalParkCRUDRun?feat=email#

Winter Ain't Over Yet!

2009-03-26T21:03:00.001-07:00

Temps were in the mid 80s when I left San Diego last week. Contrast that to mid teens in blizzard conditions today. The Leadman is an extreme event and therefore requires extreme preparation. At least that’s what I kept telling myself. Today’s workouts were pretty rough considering I haven’t seen winter this year.

In the morning, a 3.2 hour MTB ride with two tempo efforts, the first 30 min, the second 50 min. Temps were in the mid 20s so I was pretty frozen when finished. Especially hands and feet. In the afternoon the weather turned for the worse and we were hit with a full-on blizzard. The wind was blowing so hard it was snowing sideways. The interstate closed down, as well as half the city.

I assumed no one would show for the CRUD Thursday evening run, (what was I thinking, this is Team CRUD) so I went out on my own. (Turns out two brave souls did turn out for the CRUD run).

My wife wouldn’t let me take Max because she thought the weather was too extreme. She knew better to talk me out of it, although she made an obligatory attempt, and I proceeded with a speech about the Leadman is an extreme event and therefore requires extreme preparation and she let it go. I think she mentioned something about the Leadman requires extreme morons or something as I headed out the door.

After 3+ hours in the cold this morning, I wasn’t too excited about going out again. But the Leadman is an extreme… I repeated several times. The wind was ridicules and the snow stung. Luckily the first half of the run was against the wind so it was at my back the second half. At one point the wind was blowing so hard I was running in place. I started laughing out loud. After that I started to question my sanity too! I have to admit I was enjoying it. The trail was a mix of snow drifts and bare ice due to the wind. Exactly what Yaktrax is made for. I don’t know who invented those things, but they work great. They are like tire chains for shoes.

Yaktrax

When I turned around I was surprised to see my tracks were all ready covered. The longer into the run the deeper the snow was getting, and many times I had to walk. I didn’t like walking because the sweat would start freezing, so I forced myself to run through the drifts.

In retrospect, this was excellent training for Leadman. In any of the five races there is a very good possibility of snow, rain, hail, heat or all four within the same race. This is almost a guarantee during the 100 mile run. The run starts at 4:30 am in temps right around freezing, may get very warm in the day, with afternoon/evening thunderstorms all but guaranteed. These thunderstorms are hail storms on the passes. At night it can get very cold, even down to freezing. Combine that with possible rain, snow or hail and today was just a small taste of what Leadville could be. The Leadman is an extreme event and therefore requires extreme preparation.

Thurs:
Run: 1.7 hrs, 10.5 miles
Bike: 3.2 hrs, 30 min & 50 min tempo, 45 miles

Wed:
Run: 45 min, 5 miles easy
Bike: Technical MTB , 2.1 hrs, 16 miles

Ouch!

2009-03-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a good run/bike day but I got severely spanked on the bike. Started the morning with a 12 mile run in which I ran 5 miles at tempo. I ran the first two miles easy to warm up then 5 miles in 37:58, and 5 miles at an aerobic pace to finish. Felt pretty good throughout the run.

The ProCycling Team ride was a different story. The weather was turning cold and it looked and felt like it was getting ready to snow. Only two others showed up; Matt Simmons (Pro Mountain Biker) and Norm Alvis (Former Pro Road Racer, former Pro National Champion, former US hour record holder). Ouch! Needless to say as Matt and Norm were cruising and talking this old guy was just trying to hang on. When we hit the first climb they dropped me like I wasn’t even there. We regrouped at the top and headed for the second climb. Norm went home and Matt took it easy on me. He waited about 150 meters or so before he dropped me. I almost kept him in sight to the top, but not quite. This was one of those rides when your going so hard you want to puke but still can’t keep up. Ouch again. Welcome Home!

Run: 1.6 hrs, 12 miles
Bike: 1.3 hrs, 20 miles, 2000’ climbing

See Matt's Blog for more: http://twowheeledworld.blogspot.com/2009/03/7th-wonder.html

Riding with an Long Time Friend

2009-03-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

An absolute fantastic ride today! Today, was 4 ½ hours of technical mountain biking in Ute and Palmer Parks with my good friend, Sharon Larson. Sharon is a former pro mountain biker and really fun to ride with. Sharon & I have been riding together for almost as long as I’ve been riding mountain bikes. We have had many adventures together, including a race across Costa Rica, Leadville 100 both bike & run, 24 hours of Moab, 24 hours of Old Pueblo, Tour de Gila, serveral epic rides in Moab, and the list goes on. She is one of the better technical riders I know, and today everything just seemed to flow. An incredibly fun ride on some trails I haven’t ridden in quite a while. Some how I felt really good today, despite the long run yesterday. I would have like to stretched it out another couple hours but still have those 3 months worth of chores to catch up on.

Bike: 4.5 hrs, 42 miles, 3000’ climbing

Week Total:
Bike: 12.9 hrs, 130 miles
Run: 5.6 hrs, 30.6 miles

Getting into the Long Runs

2009-03-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

Now that I’m home and hopefully going back to a civilized work schedule, its time to start focusing on a real training schedule to get ready for Leadman. Up to this point all I’ve been doing is a lot of running and riding with no real plan or purpose other than having fun. Maybe that’s the way training should be, who knows? I need to focus more on running though. I believe that's my weak area, and running 100 miles in the Rocky Mountains is no picnic. The mountain bike races, I know I can finish. It’s the run that has me worried. Time to get serious!

Today Max and I ran a hilly 19 miles. Average elevation > 7,000 feet with total climb, 3,980'. We started off with a steep climb that had me walking right off the bat. I felt terrible the first few climbs and had to walk much of them. This was the case for pretty much all the climbs up Ute Trail. That trail amazes me because it seems it is uphill no matter which direction you run it. After about an hour, somewhere in Waldo Canyon, I started feeling better, and just continued to feel better the rest of the run. Ran a loop around Wald Canyon, then up Longs Ranch. Longs Ranch is very steep in places and I had to walk those sections. Ran about 1 ½ miles up Longs Ranch and realized I needed to get home as I have three months worth of chores to catch up on, so I turned around (really!). Of course anyone that knows Longs Ranch knows it gets REALLY steep at about 1 ½ miles. But really it was the chores. Finished feeling very strong in Manitou via Ute Trail.

Run: 4 hrs, 19 miles

The Adventure Continues… On to Moab

2009-03-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my last day in San Diego. Before I headed home I went out for a good hard 11 ½ mile run and felt great! Last run at sea level, so it’ll be the last time I’ll be able to run that hard for a while. Time to go back to the mountains and high altitude running & riding.

Yesterday, my boss in Colorado Springs said “Why don’t you stop in Moab on your way back and take a day to ride some of the awesome trails there”, or something like that. Man what a great idea! What a great boss! So I called the real boss and she thought it was a great idea, so Moab here I be!

Got to Moab just before midnight after a 13 ½ drive. The last two hours of the drive was “Mandatory Metallica” on Sirius Radio. Very Cool!

So got started around 10 AM riding one of my favorite trails in the world. Porcupine Rim is about a 30 mile loop that starts with a long 12 mile climb from town to the trailhead then a 2 – 3 mile technical climb to the top. Then a rough and technical 15 or so mile rolling descent to the bottom. The last 3 miles or so is a single track that is very technical in sections and very exposed to a long drop off.

Riding Sand Flats Road to the Trail Head

Riding up Sand Flats road I was passed by several shuttle buses full of mountain bikers that didn’t want to bother with the work of riding up. I think one should earn their down hill, but that's just me. I took my time climbing Sand Flats and stopped quite a bit to take pictures. My legs were still a little tired from the run yesterday, and once I hit the technical stuff there would be plenty of grunting to get up over the rocks.

2 - 3 Miles of Technical Climbing

At the Top!

At the top were a ton of people that had been shuttled up (there is another trail that they come in where they don’t have to climb), so I took a few pictures and headed down so I wouldn’t get held up. About 10 minutes into it I broke my chain. Even in the 10 min or so it took me to fix my chain, only two people came by.

Coming down Porcupine Rim is more fun than is legal in a lot of places. My Yeti 575 was made for trails like this. I felt like I was ripping it. At the single track I rode a little bit more careful cause I was alone and mistakes here can be deadly. Once at the bottom, thanked the Lord that both me and my bike made it in one piece, then rode back to town, finishing (counting the broke chain) in just over 4 hours.

Don't want to make mistakes here!

After the ride I attempted to go running. The plan was to run Cane Creek Road to the top of Hurrah Pass and back. I guess that would be 12 miles or so. After 5 minutes I bagged it. The legs just weren’t cooperating. I decided to listen to my body and go eat. It’s better to save it and have something for the CRUD run Saturday. Tomorrow back to Colorado Springs!

Friday: Run: 1.6 hrs, 11.6 miles
Saturday: Bike: 4.2 hrs, 32 miles

Last Ride in San Diego

2009-03-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

The Lunch Time Urban Assault Crew

Today was the last ride with the Urban Assault Crew. What a great bunch guys to ride with. I can’t believe the time here in California has come to an end. It seems like it just flew by. My son described Iraq as “The days are long but the weeks go by fast” and that’s how it was here. 4 AM runs, 10 – 14 hour workdays, lunch time rides, quick workouts at the gym and do it all over the next day. There were so many great people I met here both at work and play. Thanks to Jim, Dave, Rob, George, Dominic, Rudy, Darryll, Kenny, Donald (I know I’m missing a few) from the Urban Assault Crew. Your hosipitality was awsome and your rides are a blast. Then there was Ron Brogdon & Odale Baker from Sand Diego Major Taylor Cycling Club. I wished I could have rode some more with you, but time just snuck up on me. Any of you guys ever come to Colorado, I’d be proud to show you around.

Our ride today was rolling hills and fairly hard. Rolling hills for me are tougher then long steady ones. When we finished, I decided to go to the coast one more time. So I rode to the coast and through Torrey Pines State Park and back on a beautiful day in the 70s. A great way to end my stay! Thanks again guys.

Torrey Pines Overlooking the Pacific

Tomorrow morning I head for home via Moab. I guess while I’m there I ought to do one of my favorite loops in the whole world. Porcupine Rim!

Bike: 4.3 hrs, 57 miles, 3920’

I Get to Ride My Bike All Day!

2009-03-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

Peñasquitos Canyon

This morning I got up and realized that I get ride my bike all day! No work, no chores, no errands, no blogs to update… well ok 3 out of 4. Today was a 5+ hour mountain bike ride in Peñasquitos & Lopez Canyons. I went pretty easy all day, just exploring new trails and climbing and descending whatever came my way. The legs were still feeling yesterday's run so I wasn't flying up the climbs. Yesterday I ran many of these same trails and today explored more of them on the bike. Friday, Saturday and today were just easy endurance rides/run. Saturday, ran in these same canyons intending on running about 13 – 14 miles. I got caught up in exploring new trails and ended up running 18.5. Friday was a great relaxed road ride of 2.4 hours out to the coast. Training is going well, despite the travel and long working hours!

Ridin Down the Canyon! Waaaaahoo!

Friday, Bike: 2.4 hrs, 36 miles, 2421’
Saturday, Run: 2.8 hrs, 18.4 miles
Sunday, Bike (MTB): 5.1 hrs, 42.5 miles, 3219’
Week Summary:
Bike: 10.3 hrs, 119 miles
Run: 6.4 hrs, 42.5 miles

Good Climb Day (Thursday)

2009-03-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

Today, I think I was still feeling the benefits of altitude at our lunch time Urban Assault ride. Maybe another reason I felt so strong was I didn’t run in the morning. We rode the Highland Valley climb (the same Tour of California climb we watched) and I felt like I couldn’t ride hard enough, or the climb couldn’t get steep enough. The legs just went. The rest of the ride went like that with every climb. I got to be king of the mountains today. Woohoo!

Black Mountain is a pretty significant landmark in the Rancho Bernardo area. It seems no matter which direction you approach Rancho Bernardo, Black Mountain and it’s microwave towers can be seen for miles. I’ve wanted to either ride or run to the top since I’ve been here. So this evening, after work, I ran to the top. It was kind of a disappointment. It wasn’t near as hard as I thought it would be, even after such a high intensity lunch ride. Rather than run the service road up, I ran a trail that was much steeper. Many parts of the trail were too steep to run, so it was more like hiking. I was just getting warmed up when I reached the top. I ran the service road down, then some surrounding hilly trails until it was too dark to see. Good climbing day today

Bike: 1.3 hours, 22 miles, 1,319' climbing
Run: 1.4 hours, 7.5 miles, 1,401' climbing

Black Mountain

At the Top

View from the Top

Back to Pounding the Pavement

2009-03-11T20:48:00.001-07:00

Back in San Diego with long work hours, 4 am runs and urban assault bike rides. It was good to get back to Colorado and run & ride in the mountains again. It makes training seem more like play than training. When I got up Tues morning at 4 and headed out the hotel at 4:15, I noticed the hotel clock had not been moved up for Daylight Savings, it read 3:15...Och!

Ralph and I stopped by for the lunch time ride but the guys had left early so we rode a route Ralph found last week. It was a nice course on some semi quite streets with steep climbs. Lot's of fun, until some guy drove up and told us we were trespassing on private roads. Private roads? It was a good ride and I really felt the oxygen.

This morning was an easy 5 mile recovery run. Worked straight through the day so wasn't able to ride. Went to the gym and worked on core in the evening.

Wed:
Run: 43:49, 5 miles
Strength: 35 min, primarily core

Tues:
Bike: 1.5 hours, 18 miles
Run: 1.5 hours, 11.6 miles

A Tourist in My Own Town

2009-03-08T18:11:00.000-07:00

Being away so long gave me a whole new perspective on home. I was beginning to take the awesome trails, mountains, and scenery right out my front door for granted. Today I rode what I call my standard loop. It’s about a five-hour ride that I do pretty regularly. I never really appreciated what an incredible ride this is until today. Great single track, scenery, climbs, descents, clean air, and it’s just out my door. I have access to hundreds of miles of incredible trails without having to drive to them. All the tools for Leadman training are right here, a mountain biker/trail runner’s paradise!

Playing in Ute Park

Today was a fairly casual mountain bike ride by myself, as I didn’t want to push to keep up with anyone. Started out with an hour or so of semi-technical riding in Ute Park, then Monument Trail to Bear Creek. Cut through Stratton Open Space and up the Chutes to Cheyenne Canyon. Down and up Columbine Trail to Gold Camp and Cap’n Jacks. Cap’n Jacks is a great single track descent. I always forget how fun this trail is until I do it again! Down the Chutes (another fun downhill) and back home the same way I came. Just another day in Paradise!

Another Day in Paridise;Cheyenne Canyon

Sun:
Bike: 5.2 hours, 45 miles, 4219’ climbing
Week Total:
Bike: 13.7 hours, 136.5 miles
Run: 8 hours, 44 miles

New Trails & The Incline

2009-03-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

Heading up Williams Canyon

Today was another great run with CRUD, although like last week, there was enough steep climbing to classify our little adventure as a run/hike. We started in Manitou and ran up Williams Canyon to Cave of the Winds and proceeded up a steep trail that most of us didn’t know about. It took us to the top of Williams Canyon with some incredible views. Definitely going to have go back up there with Roswitha!

A New Trail!

Max Enjoying the View Over Williams Canyon

Steve explaining the Geological Features to Max

Eventually we came to Waldo Canyon and our group split. JT and I ran a loop around Waldo Canyon then back to Manitou via Ute Indian Trail.

Once back to Manitou, Max and I decided to climb the Incline. (Although Max really didn’t have a whole lot of say in the matter). I just had to do it while I was here. The Incline is probably one of the best training tools for the Leadville 100 other than the Leadville 100 course itself. It is the remains of an old cog railroad. From top to bottom the incline is 1.02 miles long and rises 2011 ft. Avg grade is 41% with the steepest grade 69%. Matt Carpenter founder of the Incline Club and an incredible mountain, trail, and ultra runner has a nice web page describing the Incline: http://www.inclineclub.com/incline.htm

The Start of the Incline

No Gym Stair-Stepper Can Ever Match This!

About ¼ way up it started snowing and by the time we got to the top we were socked in and I couldn’t get any descent pictures. Matt’s web site has some great pictures. An easy run down Barr Trail completed the run. Felt pretty good today. I think I've re-adjusted to the altitude.

At the Top

Saturday: Long trail run.
Run: 4.1 hours, 17 miles, 4659’ climbing
Friday: Easy recovery run.
Run: 47min, 5.3 miles

More Pictures at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/larry.dewitt/CRUDWilliamsIncline?feat=email#

http://picasaweb.google.com/swbremner/20090307WilliamsCanyonTraverse?feat=email#

Time for a Rest

2009-03-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

Today (Thursday, March 5) was climbing day. I had decent climbing legs on the run, but they disappeared on the bike. Started the day with the CRUD hill climb. I could definitely breathe better than last week! It was a beautiful morning with no snow at all. Pretty much everyone set an all-time PR or a season PR. I ran a 39:15, exactly 3 min faster than last week. We took Columbine trail back down for a total of 10 miles.

Dan (on a single speed) Had to Wait on Me Today

As soon as I finished the run, I jumped on my bike, rode through Ute Park, Garden of the Gods, & up Gold Camp. Met Dan at the base of High Drive and we proceeded to climb up Palmer Trail to Section 16. I normally have to struggle to keep up with Dan, but keeping up today just wasn’t in the cards. I thought Dan was getting frustrated waiting for me, but he was actually enjoying watching me suffer.

Starting the Climb up Palmer Trail

Section 16 is one of the more technical & steeper descents around Colorado Springs. Sometimes I can ride it really well, and sometimes not so well. Today was not so well. I was a bit slow & crashed once but got down ok. It’s an incredibly fun descent, when you’re on.

Coming Down Section 16

We then rode Intemann Trail to Red Rocks and two very fun trails that were new to me! From there we circled back to Section 16 and back to Gold Camp. I crashed hard just before we reached Section 16, going over the handle bar and hitting a rock with my head and shoulder. Luckily nothing broke and we continued on. From Gold Camp I headed home via Red Rocks, Garden of the Gods, and the Flying W Ranch hill. I have this tradition (some call it superstition) that when I ride home from long rides, no matter how tired I am, I have to go home via the Flying W hill. I sure didn’t feel like climbing that hill today, but I’ve been here many times before and will be here many times in the future. I spent a good part of the rest of the day with an ice pack on my left shoulder and an ice pack on my right wrist. I’m fairly banged up and I think its time for a rest. Climbing Back Out of Red Rocks

Thursday, March 5:
Run: 1.5 hrs, 10 miles
Bike: 4 hrs, 33 miles, 4219’ Climbing

Commuting

2009-03-04T19:12:00.000-08:00

In Colorado Springs, this week my training has been commuting to work. It’s a great way to get in some base miles and save money at the same time. In San Diego, my world is work, the gym, the hotel, and the grocery store. All within walking distance. I work lots of hours, train, eat & sleep. A very simple life. In Colorado Springs I have a 19.5 mile commute to work. I ride to work, work, run at lunch, work, and ride home. Not much time for anything else. I have put gas in my truck one time this year. Practically the only driving I do is back & forth to the airport.

Commuting to/from Work

My commuting set-up makes me look like a nerd, but that’s OK. I ride a 15 year old Schwinn, with a head light, blinking tail light & usually pull a BOB trailer. I carry my clothes, shower stuff, breakfast, lunch, tools, and work stuff, such as folders, books, and sometimes my laptop. Going up hill feels like riding a tandem with your partner not pedaling. The route to work is a combination of bike paths, trails, dirt roads, and residential roads with little to no traffic. It’s a great ride!

My Commuting Rig

Wednesday:
Bike: 1.5 hrs, 19.5 miles commute to work. (Roswitha was in the neighborhood and gave me a ride home)
Run: 31 min, 3.7 miles

Tuesday:
Bike: 3 hrs, 39 miles commute to/from work.
Run: 1.1 hrs, 8 miles w/10 * 15 sec sprints.

Monday:
Strength workout, primarily core.

Back with the Gang!

2009-03-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

A Very Fast Group

Today was a fun & painful day on the bike. There were a lot of studs on this ride and the urban assault rides in San Diego paid off. We started at the Woodman trail head and headed for the Falcon Trail. Once we hit the single track it was game on. I struggled somewhat on the climbs and lost contact with the front group, but we regrouped every 15 – 20 minutes. After an hour or so, I seemed to be doing better and wasn’t getting dropped on the climbs. Every time this group gets together it’s like a race. My legs were feeling yesterday’s run, but I was stronger than I expected and held my own. This was a good intensive mountain bike ride which I haven't done this year. The lunch time road rides in SD are where I've been getting my intensity this year, so this ride was not a complete shock to the system.

Kara, Stud of Studs, Climbing on her Single Speed

Everyone on this ride is fast and tough. Guys like Dan & Kara Durland who do 24 hour solo races, Leadville 100 and other epic races on single speeds. Relatively few women even finish the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race. Kara finishes and wins year after year on her single speed!

Hitting Ute Park on the Way Home

After the ride, (about 3 hrs) I had to do what one has to do when they're training for the LeadMan. Ride some more. I continued on to Ute Park and did less intense but technical riding. My legs were really feeling the climbs but I was riding my beloved trails in my beloved Ute Park. After about 1 1/2 hours or so I headed home. This was also my first ride on my 2009 race bike. It's sweet!

Bike: 4.6 hrs, 37 miles, 3760'

Total for Week: Bike: 13.4 hrs, 152 miles Run: 7.9 hrs, 40.8 miles

Blodgett Peak & Crashed Airplanes

2009-02-28T19:06:00.000-08:00

Blodgett Peak 9,423'

We ran a very long 17 miles today. Leadville Trail 100 kind of miles. Rough steep terrain where the going is slow and exhausting. 4 hrs 40 minutes to run/hike 17 miles. A true CRUD run. Max & I ran from my house to the Woodman Rd. Trail Head and met the rest of http://www.teamcrud.com/ (so we actually get credit for 18 ½ miles). From there we followed trails through the south end of the Air Force Academy to begin our climb up Blodgett Peak. These were very rough and somewhat dangerous trails. I wondered many times how we would get down.

Max Looking Down at me and saying "Yes this is the trail"

It turns out we didn’t come down the same trail we went up, we went down the other side which was even more radical in places. Mountaineer kind of trails. Going up I fell way behind. If it weren’t for Max I probably would have never made it. Many times it was impossible to tell which way everyone went, so I just followed Max. The altitude, footing, and steepness of the climb were destroying me. Those 3 ½ minute climbs I’ve been doing in San Diego just aren’t cutting it! We got to the top and the view was worth it.

At the Top with Pikes Peak in the Background

Paul & Tara at the Top Looking Down on Colorado Springs

Steve taking a break on Airplane Wreckage

Coming down was slow and treacherous. Climbing, crawling, sliding, grabbing tree branches, whatever it took. We also came upon the remains of plane crash from World War II time frame.

On the Home Stretch!

We finally made it to a real trail. We had only covered eight miles in over three hours. We were on trails that we could actually run and covered the last nine miles in about 1 ½ hours. Ironically, I was feeling strongest the last 4 – 5 miles of the run. My legs are trashed now though! This was a fun adventure run that only Team CRUD would do. I love running with these guys & gals.

Running: 4.6 hrs, 18.5 miles, 3660'

Steve Bremner put together a great slide show of our little adventure at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/swbremner/20090228TourDeBlodgettPeak?feat=email#slideshow

It's Still February

2009-02-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

Ahh Yes Winter! Forgot about that. Today was a mild reminder. Rode to work today with temps in the mid 20s. Had I been living here this Winter, this would be nothing. But it was a cold slap in the face. By the time I got to work, my hands and feet were frozen... Very painful in the shower! Riding home, I faced a pretty fierce headwind and a snow shower most of the way. The pace was slow and the conditions were tough. Tough conditions are what's needed when training for the LeadMan. In the LeadMan races we face hail, wind, rain, darkness, cold, and sometimes snow, not to mention altitude and rough trails.

Bike: To Work: 1.6 hours, 19.5 miles, From Work 1.9 hrs, 19.5 miles

Team CRUD

2009-02-26T19:58:00.000-08:00

Team CRUD at the Top

Every Thursday morning throughout the Winter, Team CRUD does a time trial up Cheyenne Canyon. It is a 4 mile uphill run, very steep in places. It starts at around 6,400 ft and ends at approximately 8,100 ft. Everyone starts at different times with the goal of everyone finishing at the top at the same time, then we run down together. For instance if it takes 40 minutes start at 6:00 am, if 35 minutes - 6:05, if 45 min - 5:55. The altitude was rough on me today and I really struggled up the mountain. It was fun, and a hard reminder that I will have to do a lot of this type of running to get ready for LeadMan. We took Columbine trail down to the start so we added a couple of extra miles for a total of 10.

Coming Down Columbine

After work I rode home and inadvertently took the long way, which ended up being about 32 miles.

Bike: 2.2 Hrs, 32 miles

Run: 1.6 Hrs, 10 miles

Back In Colorado!

2009-02-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

Colorado Springs, Airport Parking Lot

Back in Colorado for 1 1/2 weeks. Went on a short run as soon as I got back and holy smoley did the altitude kick my butt! After two months at sea level, I know what flat landers feel like when they come here. Ran a short 4 miles and my pace was a minute a mile slower than in San Diego, but felt harder. Wow! It was great running with my favorite running buddy though!

MyFavorite Running Buddy, Max

Tuesday morning (in San Diego) was the 4 AM 8 mile run with 10 * 15 second speed burst. I felt absolutely great! In the afternoon hooked up with the Urban Assault Crew and we had a fun, fast, intense one hour ride. One of those rides where a group of friends just go out and have fun. We attacked each other, chased the attackers down, pushed the hills, and flew down the descents. Its like being kids again. Another reason we ride. After the urban assault ride I went on to ride another 2 hours on the bike path along side the freeway to the coast and back.

Wed: Run 37:21, 4 miles

Tues: Run 1.1 hrs, 8.3 miles, Bike 3.1 hrs, 45 miles

Tour of California

2009-02-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

Today was like the perfect day. Got up in the morning and ran trails! 16 miles worth. Got back, ate breakfast, hopped on my bike and met Ralph, Jim, & Rob to go chase the ToC. We rode a fairly easy pace up to Highland Valley road and then up the first climb of the day. It is a short (about 1 mile?) but at 9%. Once the race went by we rode further up, cut across Bandy Canyon, then rode the rolling hills to Escondido at a pretty hard pace to watch the finish (I think we were motivated at watching the race fly up the climb). After the finish, we rode back to the hotel, again at a good pace for a total of 38 miles riding on the day.

Bike: 2.6 hrs, 38 miles. Total for week-13.7 hrs, 171 miles

Run: 2.3 hrs, 16 miles. Total for week-5.7 hrs, 40.1 miles

Watching these guys climb up Highland Valley was nothing short of amazing. They simply flew up the climb like there was no hill at all, and they looked relaxed doing it! Here are some pictures from the climb. I took video of the finish, so I don't have any pictures of that.

I was cheering for Ralph!

The Peleton Approaches

Heading for the first Switchback

A small gap. I believe that's Tyler in the back.

Astana controlling and protecting Levi (5th back in Yellow)

Many interesting fans along the route

You could watch the race on big screens placed throughout the finish area.

Sycamore Canyon

2009-02-21T20:43:00.000-08:00

The weather was awesome and the trails were sweet! And it's only about a 30 minute bike ride away!

This is just what the doctor ordered. It was great to get away from the urban madness if just for part of a day. Its why we do it!

Bike: 4:05, 35 miles

No Cars?

2009-02-21T07:15:00.000-08:00

Friday, Feb 20: This morning at work a string of annoying events stuck with me into our lunch time ride. Since I was not in the best of moods when we started, for the first time, the traffic here annoyed me. Don't get me wrong it was a great ride (every ride is awesome) and the weather can't be beat, but today the traffic annoyed me. What if there were no cars? What if everyone traveled on foot, bicycle, or public transportation? What if no private cars & trucks were allowed and the only cars and trucks were either commercial for transport of goods, construction, or public transportation? I think the world would be a much better place. There certainly wouldn't be as many health issues and obese people all over the place. The smog problems would go away. My guess is that urban sprawl would be non-existent. Anyway it was just a thought. I'm looking forward to a good mountain bike ride today, after work (Saturday).

Bike: 1:36, 22 miles
Strength: 45 min, Focus on Core.

It's Summer Again!

2009-02-19T18:49:00.000-08:00

It's February and the oranges are ripe for pickin!

Today was an absolutely beautiful day and a great training day. Felt pretty energetic on my 4 am hill repeats. Did the same hills I've been doing the last three weeks; 10 * 3.5 min. Next Thursday I'll be in Colorado doing the Thursday morning hill climb with Team-CRUD! Legs felt pretty good at work.

Part of the climb the race will come up

Lunch was the Urban Assault Ride. We rode up Highland Valley Road to scope out a spectator spot for the Tour of California, which comes through on Sunday. It is the first climb of the day for the race. Our plan is ride up Highland Valley, watch the race come by, then head across Bandy Canyon to Hwy 78 and ride into Escondido to watch the finish. Today was a good brisk ride, my legs felt surprisingly strong and as always with this group, it was a lot of fun. Oh and it was in the 70s.

Run: 1:42 11.5 miles (Hill Repeats)
Bike: 1:28 20.5 miles

Winter is Over

2009-02-18T19:31:00.001-08:00

Well I guess we've had our Winter in San Diego, at least that's what the locals are saying. It rained on and off for about a week, and temperatures only got up in the mid 50s. Today the sun came out, temps climbed into the 60s and forecasts are calling for high 70s through the weekend. Ralph made a comment about the weather during our ride yesterday. Something like "What's with this weather here, we actually have to wear arm warmers!"

After a tough run on Sunday, I used Monday to recover only doing Core Strength training. That did the trick as I felt great Tuesday morning. Started the morning off with an 8 mile run, the first 4 miles at a casual pace then the last 4 miles at tempo. Took a cold bath/shower afterward and my legs felt great all day. Ralph & I rode the in afternoon doing a high RPM spin tempo ride and it felt great.

Today 4 miles in the morning then the lunch time Urban Assault Ride. The lunch ride started fast right out of the blocks. Jim just likes to ride fast, period. I don't think he knows what slow is. He eventually dropped us and we kind of got lost. Jim was probably waiting for us somewhere, but we must have took a wrong turn. We got our bearings straight with the help of Garmin and continued at a more civilized pace. The ride was nice and we actually got on some quieter roads with some nice scenery. All in all just another great ride! Note, I took some pictures, but I accidentally deleted them...duh!

Wed:
Run 37:58, 4.5 miles
Bike 2:01, 29 miles

Tues:
Run 1:04, 8.3 miles
Bike 1:54, 26 miles

Pounding the Pavement

2009-02-16T19:35:00.000-08:00

Sunday was tough. Stayed up pretty late Saturday (after the 100 mile ride) working on a task for my boss in Colorado Springs, then had to be at work 8 am Sunday. Got up at 4:30 to get a 15 mile run before work. If I’m going to run in the dark, I’d rather run in the morning when there is not traffic vs evenings when there is.

Sunday’s run was painful. I started out pretty slow and just kind of tapered off from there. My legs were kind of trashed from Sunday's ride, and running on pavement probably wasn't doing them any favors. Ended up with 15.5 miles all on concrete and pavement. My calves were starting to cramp the last mile or so but I got through it. Didn’t really have time to stretch so I pretty much hobbled around at work like a cripple all day.

Today is a recovery day. Just strength work in the gym, primarily focusing on Core.

Sunday: Run 2:14, 15.5 miles
Total for Week: Bike - 13.8 hrs, 178.5 miles, Run - 5.3 hrs, 37.5 miles

Pre-Tour of California

2009-02-14T19:30:00.000-08:00

Got up this morning and decided to ride 100 miles. It was raining all night so mountain biking was out. There is a 6 mile climb about 5 miles or so from here that the Tour of California race will be going up next week, so that was where Ralph & I headed. The climb wasn’t really that hard, it was about 6 miles of climbing with pitches of 9% but it evened out several times.

Start of climb to Romona

About 1/2 way up

We rode up to the town of Ramona and rode some hills then headed back down and back to the hotel. I refilled my water bottles and headed back out alone to the coast, and to ride some hills. Felt great and wanted to do more but decided I shouldn't over do it. 100 mile ride, short sleeves, in February? Yes! All in all a great day, just out ridin my bike!

Bike: 7:34, 101 miles, 6240' climbing

Perspectives

2009-02-13T19:43:00.000-08:00

Today was a recovery day. Got to sleep in till 5:30. Ralph & I went for an easy ride at lunch. We saw a car parked in the bike lane but didn’t say anything.

Today was in the 50s and overcast. Not freezing cold but enough to wear a vest and arm warmers. While we were stopped at a traffic light a lady rolled down her window and asked how we could ride in such cold weather. Huh? One of the women at work was complaining that this was coldest she’s been in her life. Another asked how I could walk outside with only a short sleeve shirt. At home, 50 degrees in February would feel like summer.

One perspective that has changed for me here is riding in traffic. Today I was thinking how relaxing this ride was when it hit me that I’m riding down the side of a busy 6 lane highway with cars buzzing by at 60 mph. Three months ago I wouldn’t have even rode down this road let alone think it was relaxing!

Ride 1:36, 20 miles

Urban Single Track, Expensive Neighborhoods, and Angry Drivers

2009-02-12T20:01:00.000-08:00

4 AM seemed to come especially early this morning. It was really tough to drag myself out of bed and I was tempted to just stay there. But I knew I would be mad at myself if I did. Felt a little tired this morning and this was hill repeat day. On the keel was a 10 mile run with 10 * 3 ½ min steep climbs. It was tough, the legs were tired and with each climb I thought it would be the last, but you can’t finish a LeadMan by quitting workouts. So I slogged through them. I was almost late for work.

Our Lunch time Urban Assault Ride almost got violent. We passed a truck parked in the bike lane and one of the guys told the driver he’s not supposed to park there. Apparently this was a very sensitive subject with this guy as he exploded. He jumped in his truck and started yelling all kinds of obscenities repeatedly calling us F****ing Spandex wearing faggots. One of the riders told him what to do with himself and he immediately sped ahead of us, pulled over, and wanted to fight. I thought nothing good can come out of this and we should ignore him. We did and he continued to comment on our attire and what he believed to be our sexual orientation. It was a good ride though, we went at a very brisk pace. I wanted to make sure I stayed at low LT or below, which meant getting dropped a bit on the climbs and drafting on the flats.

Run 1:28, 10 miles
Bike 1:09 18 miles

Ralph "Mountain Biking" Urban Style

Wednesday was an easy 3 ½ mile run in the AM and an easy MTB ride over Urban Single track at lunch.

Run 30 min, 3.5 miles
Bike 1:27, 14 miles

Tuesday morning started at 4 AM with an easy run of 8.5 miles and 15 – 20 second sprints thrown in throughout. Felt really good. What a great way to start out the day! At lunch a long ride with the Urban Assault Gang that turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous ride. We got out of the heavy traffic into some very expensive neighborhoods. Quite amazing houses and quiet streets. Had some good climbs too. Great ride!

Run 1:06, 8.5 miles
Bike 2 Hrs, 27 miles

Monday was a good hard strength workout in the gym.

Riding the Urban Single Track

The Ocean & Major Taylor

2009-02-08T17:43:00.000-08:00

Today was another great day and I couldn't help throughout the whole ride to think about how lucky and privileged I am to be able to ride and run and train for something like the LeadMan. Today I met a great bunch of riders and a very inspirational man.

Woke up this morning and the roads were wet so I went out on a 5 mile run to get a little warm-up and let the roads dry out. Then headed for the ocean. It was a little cool (upper 50s) so I wore my arm warmers. I know, I’m turning into a wimp out here. It’s about 15 miles to the coast from the hotel and there is a bike path that goes most of the way.

Reaching Hwy 101

Hwy 101 runs parallel to the ocean and has tons of cyclists. It is pretty high traffic with lots of traffic light stops. Kind of hard to get a rhythm. Eventually I ended up in La Jolla which is a pretty little tourist town with spectacular views of the ocean.

La Jolla

The Coast from La Jolla

On the way back I came across of group of riders from the “Major Taylor Cycling Club San Diego” (MTCCSD). http://www.mtccsd.com/home.html. This sparked my interest because a few years ago I read "Major Taylor: The Extraordinary Career of a Champion Bicycle Racer," by Andrew Ritchie. It is a great book and I highly recommend it. We rode together to Lake Mirmar and I had the privilege of meeting a great bunch of cyclists, in particular Ron Brogdon. He is a very fit and a very strong rider, former Marine, Kona Ironman, president of the MTCCSD and will be 67 this year. I can only hope I’m half as fit as him if I reach that age. After parting with the MTCSSD I rode around Lake Mirmar then found some hills to climb before heading back to the hotel. Today was one of rides where you just ride for the love of riding. It didn’t feel like training, I was just enjoying the day being a tourist.

Ron Brogdon & Me

Run 44:47, 5 Miles
Bike 6 Hrs, 75 Miles

A Weekend Off!

2009-02-07T15:47:00.000-08:00

Got a whole weekend off from work! For the first time this year (other than the weekend I flew home) I have a weekend off! This was only because the power in our bldg is down for maintenance. Sooo let’s take advantage of it shall we! My plan was to ride to the coast and do a long ride along Hwy 101. However it rained all night and was still drizzling in the morning. Sooo, I went for a long run instead. This was an exploratory run that turned out great. Found a dirt path less than ½ mile away that led to other paths that led to others etc and before I knew it I was in the hills away from traffic and running on trails! The weather temporarily cleared and it turned out to be a beautiful run. With no pressure to hurry up and go to work, I was able to take my time and really enjoy myself. Only ran about 2 miles on concrete the entire15 mile run!

Up in the Hills & Away from Traffic

Running on Dirt & Horse Poop

After returning from running I took a cold bath and shower (no pictures) which is tough to do, but great for recovery. Ate, then headed out on an easy recovery bike ride. Five minutes into the ride, the skies opened and I got hammered. It was an absolute cloudburst. It was raining so hard it felt like hail. The faster I rode to get back the more it hurt. Got back to the the hotel and set up the trainer. Finished the ride on the trainer which included 20 minutes of one-leg pedaling, rotating each leg every 30 seconds. This is something I should be doing every week any way. It’s been pouring down rain pretty much all day. Hopefully the weather clears and I can go for a long ride tomorrow. If it doesn’t, there's always the trainer. Now I think I’ll go for a walk and later, read a good book. Enjoying my day off.

Riding in the Hotel

Run 2:19, 15 miles - Bike 1 hr, 14 miles

Fri: Hard strength workout in gym w/Plyometrics - Easy 5 mile run.

Urban Assault

2009-02-05T19:06:00.001-08:00

Today started early at 4 AM for hill repeats. CRUD runs up Cheyenne Canyon on Thursday mornings, so I was with them in spirit by trying to emulate the run. It normally takes me between 36 and 40 min to run up Cheyenne Canyon. So far I haven't found a steep climb nearby, that I can run in the dark, that is as long. The best I've found is a hill in a residential area that takes about 3 1/2 min. So I ran it 10 times. The same but different.

A major cold front moved in today so the highs only reached the mid 60s. That might have been why we had less than half the regulars at the lunch time ride, which I call the "Lunch Time Urban Assault Ride". It was a good one today. Only an hour but very high intensity with a couple steep (but short) climbs that we hit pretty hard.

Run 1:28 - 10 miles
Bike 1 hour - 16 miles

Always Bring a Phone

2009-02-04T19:57:00.000-08:00

Today was supposed to be a recovery day and it pretty much was. No run this morning since my body is still adjusting to running on concrete and the lunch time ride was a low intensity road ride of just over an hour. Toward the end of the ride I caught the sight of a lady laying on the sidewalk. All of a sudden she starting coughing and appeared to be having a convulsion. Ralph and I stopped and ran over to her and she seemed to be semi conscious. She was incoherently mumbling and then passed out. A few seconds later she would start coughing and complaining that she couldn't breath. She pointed to a band on her wrist which stated she has Adrenal Deficiency. Now I usually take my cell phone, but today I left it on my desk. Ralph tried calling 911 on his phone and got no answer. Keep in mind this was all happening on the side of a very busy road. We weren't sure what to do and felt kind of helpless when a car pulled to the side and two men, one a Marine Sgt got out. They also had no cell phone. They were going to try and take her to a hospital but she passed out again. Finally a woman with a cell phone stopped and was able to get through to 911. Then a nurse stopped. She seemed also uncertain of what to do and kept commenting on how long it was taking the ambulance. It seemed like forever but it was probably only about 8 minutes when we heard sirens and a fire truck, ambulance and State Hwy Patrol arrived.

Ride 1:15, 15 miles easy
Strength workout 45 minutes primarily CORE.

It's HOT!

2009-02-03T20:47:00.001-08:00

Got back to San Diego yesterday and immediately had to take off my sweat shirt. It was definitely in the 80s! Went straight to work from the airport then to the gym after work. Worked the CORE hard. This morning got up at 4:30 and ran 8 miles in shorts and t-shirt. At lunch met with the lunch time bike group and did the high intensity traffic light sprint in heavy traffic ride they do every day. We also went out to Lake Mirmar and rode a wide bike path around the lake. Pretty nice, got us out of traffic but had to dodge runners, joggers, and roller bladers. The weather is amazing! Today felt like a hot day in July. 1 1/2 hours and I was drenched in sweat. It was a good ride with a lot of time spent at LT. I felt really strong and led on climbs. Other news today - it looks like we will be extended a month, which means I'll be here until May. I could think of worse places to spend the winter... Omaha comes to mind. I'll just be living a very simple life over the next few months; work, train, eat sleep. The cool thing is everything I need is within walking distance. Work is across the street, the gym is two blocks away, the grocery store is 3 blocks away, a bike shop is two blocks, and a book store one block. What more does one need?

Run: 8 miles 1 hr 4 min
Bike: 25 miles 1 hr 32 min

Back!

2009-02-01T17:00:00.000-08:00

January has been quite a month. I got assigned to a new project in California and things have been pretty hectic. Living in a hotel and working 65 hour weeks put a bit of a crimp on training. LeadMan really looks intimidating from San Diego. Running on concrete at 4 am and road riding in heavy traffic at lunch is a huge difference from Colorado Springs. I have found a couple decent places to mountian bike and the longer I'm here the more places I find to ride. I was on the verge of not doing LeadMan when I came back to Colorado this weekend and had a fantastic run with CRUD http://dewittwoodworking.blogspot.com/2009/01/summer-in-january.html and am totally motivated again to go for it. I registered and am going back to San Diego tomorrow with a plan and focus. The weather is awesome and I'll be there till April. There are some decent places to mountain bike and some steep climbs. With the hours I'm working it will be tough, but I've adjusted and back on track!

Taking advantage of the Weather

2008-12-29T12:58:00.000-08:00

Visitor at our neighbors house as I was just starting out this morning With an absolute beautiful day, a group of us had to take advantage of it and get in some good ol fashion just go out and have fun mountain biking. One of those rides where a group of friends get together and just ride. No training, no intervals, just good ol fun play. A wonderful day. Most of the group had better skills than me and we rode some pretty technical stuff in Palmer Park; Which meant I had to work hard to keep up. I find it good to ride with people better than me now and then, I end of riding stuff I normally wouldn't ride.
Today I want to start putting somewhat of an overall plan together for the Leadman. Generally, I am planning to limit running to 3 - 4 times a week with no long runs over 20 miles except for an occaisonal race of 50k to 50 miles, ride 4 - 5 times a week with long rides up to 6 hours. Keep the intensity fairly low over the winter then start increasing intensity in the Spring and early summer with hill repeats and races. The biggest wrench to any plan right now is going out to San Diego for the next three months. It's that job thing...

Today's ride:

3.8 Hours MTB: Fun, relaxed group ride with some technical grunts througout.

30 Miles mostly technical single track

2100 ft Altitude gain.

Nice Mix of Riding Today

2008-12-28T20:29:00.000-08:00

Pikes Peak was really lookin good this morning! Today was a really fun ride but also a ride that showed me how much out of bike shape I am. Hey its December. Got in 5 hours with a nice mix of single track, technical, fire roads and a little snow & ice to make things interesting.

Ice made some sections tricky!

Zak came over from Durango, since there is way too much snow there to ride. Garden of the Gods was pretty dry. 15 mile run yesterday, just under 5 hour ride today.

Starting My Quest for LeadMan 09

2008-12-27T19:53:00.000-08:00

Well I was looking for something challenging to do this Summer and decided to do the Leadman again, much to the disapproval of Roswitha, my wife. Training for the Leadman pretty much becomes a single focus for the year. It consists of all 5 Leadville events: The Mosiquito Pass Marathon, the Silver Rush 50 Mile Bike Race, the Leadville Trail MTB 100, the Leadville Trail 10K Run, and finally the Leadville Trail 100 Mile Run. I've been combining running and riding for the last couple months, but as of yesterday I officially started training specifically for the LeadMan. So why not start a blog and track the adventure.

Yesterday Moutain Bike in the snow! Always good to get out in the cold and enjoy the fresh air!

Today a semi long run with CRUD http://www.teamcrud.com/. They are a great group to run with and very much responsible for getting me through my first LeadMan. Can't think of a funner bunch to run with.