11/16 – 5.5 miles
11/17 – 7.1 miles + 2 miles in VFF
11/18 – 4 miles + 2 miles in VFF
11/19 – 8 miles + 2 miles in VFF
11/20 – off
11/21 – Gobble Wobble 5k + 4 miles warm up/cool down
11/22 – off

Total 34.6 Miles

The 2009 racing season has come to a close. I have new post college PR’s in the 5k, 10k and marathon. I was hoping to have improved more in the shorter distances but I think on the whole the season was a success. I’m proud of my marathon time and performance, and that was the goal race of 2009, the rest were simply fillers. This was also the first time that I have gone injury free for greater than 12+ months, since my return to running in 2006.

The plan for 2010 is a spring marathon and then I think I will concentrate on developing more speed and try to knock out some fast 5ks/10ks in the fall. No idea as to what my next race will be, probably the Oatmeal Festival 5k and I’m planning on running a few of the snowshoe races in Beaver Creek.

Also, anyone know if Fast and Flurry-ous will be held in 2010?

11/09 – 4 miles
11/10 – 4 miles + 2 miles in VFF
11/11 – 4 miles in VFF
11/12 – 5.5 miles + 2 miles in VFF
11/13 – 2 miles in VFF
11/14 – Longmont Turkey Trot 10k + 1 miles warm up
11/15 – 8 miles

Total 38.71 Miles

I’m going to run one more race this year and then hang up the proverbial spikes for the 2010 season. I will be running the Gobble Wobble 5k this Saturday. Looking at last year’s results, the competition is lacking and the course is probably not the fast, looks like a ton of turns. Plus, anytime you run on concrete paths they tend to have a lot of little hills that kill your momentum. Thus, I have no time goals for this race, just going to enjoy the race.

I’m about halfway through Where Men Win Glory and it is excellent. I’ve read all of John Krakauer’s books and this one does not disappoint. Highly recommend it.

11/02 – off
11/03 – off
11/04 – 2 miles (sore)
11/05 – 4 miles
11/06 – off
11/07 – 5.5 miles
11/08 – 8 miles

Total 19.5 Miles

* It’s hard to get that first post marathon run in, but it definitely helps the legs to recover.
* Recently read Basketball Diaries, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Hell’s Angels. I got my first taste of Hunter S. Thompson and loved it.
* Met Rod Mackey on Saturday timing the Littleton Stride 5k, super nice guy. We talked CU football and Iowa Hawkeye Football; he used to live in Cedar Rapids. Of course Iowa’s perfect season came to end on Saturday. His 13 year old son ran the 5k in 21:02.
* My goal is to go sub 37 minutes in the Longmont Turkey Trot 10k. Looks the weather will be nice and cold. I just came down with a cold this week, I think I should be fine by Saturday though and hopefully my legs will have some spring in them, right now they do not.
* I’ll be spectating the Panicking Poultry 5k – which should be the weekend race that draws in the fast runners.
* Metro State ROTC 5k Review

10/26 – 6 miles in VFF
10/27 – 7.1 miles
10/28 – 8 miles, with 4 miles at marathon race pace
10/29 – off
10/30 – 6.2 miles
10/31 – 3 miles
11/01 – NYC Marathon in 2:48:54

Total 56.5 Miles

* If you’re looking for a fast 5k on Saturday, check out the race at Metro State. This is a new race, but I am guessing that they are using the same course that was used for the Metro State 5k, which was probably the flatest 5k course that I have done in Colorado. No idea on the comeptition though.
* Plan on running the Longmont Turkey Trot next Saturday. I’d love to PR, my current 10k PR was set in Longmont earlier this year with a 37:29. Hopefully my legs will have recovered by then, right now I’m still a bit sore.
* Lance still has a better PR than me in the marathon. About two minutes faster when he ran NYC a few years ago.
* I’m now wondering if I didn’t go out hard enough in the first half of the race? Wondering what my time would have been had I hit the half in 1:25 (minute faster). Funny how you can have a great race and still question your race.
* Great stuff in The Onion on Meb.
* It’s crazy how many people cheat in marathons. I’d like to know what percentage of cheaters, cheat to get into Boston?

Was Jeff running bandit at the Denver Marathon?

10/19 – 5.5 miles
10/20 – 4 miles in VFF
10/21 – 8 miles (Fartlek @ 10k race pace)
10/22 – 15 miles with 4 miles @ 6:44 pace, 5 minutes active recovery, 4 miles @ 6:43 pace (marathon race pace)
10/23 – Scream Scram 5k and 2 miles in VFF
10/24 – 8 miles
10/25 – 8 miles

Total 53.61 Miles

The countdown to the NYC Marathon is under way. I feel strong and confident, ready to race. The positives are that I’ve put in some solid miles and that I weigh 156lbs, which is seven to eight pounds lighter than the weight in which I ran the Denver Marathon in 2008. Most of the weight loss came from the additional miles, but I also made sure to cut out some junk food, but no drastic changes to my diet. In college I never really thought about how my weight affected my performance, but even a few pounds of excess fat over the course of 26.2 miles has to slow you down. I am hungry all the time though, especially now during my taper but am curbing my appetite.

I approached the taper differently this year and didn’t cut back my miles as drastically and I also made sure that I had two to three solid workouts during the week. On the negative side, I haven’t had any good races in the past couple of months to give me the boost of confidence that I would like to have going into the marathon. The Boulder Half Marathon was too hot, Regis 5k, well I got there a minute before the start of the race and the Harvest Festival 5k it was 18 degrees and snow was on the roads, so I guess I have my reasons, aka excuses.

My goal for the marathon will be a 2:50 – 2:52. I will run the first half in 1:26 and then hopefully pick up the pace. I’m good at pacing myself and being patient during the first half of the race. I have negative split the Denver Marathon the last two years that I have run it and to me that’s the ideal strategy on race day.

Miscellaneous:

Denver Marathon Review
Scream Scram Review
Racing with the Stars Review
Shake, Rattle and Run 5k Review

10/05 – 5.5 miles
10/06 – 8 miles + 2 miles in VFF
10/07 – 15 miles
10/08 – 10 miles
10/09 – 8 miles + 2 miles in VFF
10/10 – Harvest Moon Hustle 5k + 9.1 miles warm up & cool down
10/11 – 2 mile warm up, then 15 miles at marathon race pace (6:44), 6 mile cool down

Total 85.71 Miles

* Most miles per week ever.
* Time to start the taper or preparing for the peak, I get confused with all the different theories out there.
* Already thinking about a marathon for 2010, I’ll do a spring marathon and that will be it.
* Saw a billboard along I-70 for Scream Scram, wonder what the cost and ROI is?
* Great article by Malcom Gladwell. Makes me glad that I never played competitive football.
* Just finished Grapes of Wrath, now on to my next book.
* Excited to watch the Denver Marathon, the weather is starting to turn around.

09/28 – Fartlek, 5 minutes easy, 3 minutes at 10k race pace, total 10 miles
09/29 – 7.1 miles + 2 miles in Vibram Five Fingers
09/30 – 8 miles + 2 miles in Vibram Five Fingers
10/01 – 10 miles at marathon race pace (6:45), 5 miles cool down, 15 miles total
10/02 – 4 miles
10/03 – 10 miles in Cody, Wyoming
10/04 – 22 miles easy on the High Line Canal

Total 80.1 Miles

* First time over 80 miles per week in my life.
* Feeling robust.
* Had lunch at Hi Rise Cafe today, got the JM special – Mesquite Turkey and a brownie, it was palatable.
* Tipping the scales at 159lbs, five pounds less than what I weighed when I ran Denver Marathon last year, good sign, but I would like to lose a few more stones.
* Is it “High Line Canal” or “Highline Canal” on the trail I see both, generally it’s High Line Canal but today I saw the Highline Church, I’m confused?
* Cody, Wyoming is a cool little town, I can’t believe that I have still never been to Yellowstone.
* I think Pete’s logic is backward. He states “But in the real world, gimmicks don’t a heavyweight champion make.” When I see the Asics Kinsei, I think gimmick. Nothing gimmicky about running barefoot or in Vibram Five Fingers. In fact I have yet to see an advertisement for Vibram Five Fingers in any running magazine, but I see a ton of gimmick running products out there.
* On the same note, Skora?
* Speaking of gimmicks, Airborne? I love the part where it says “Created by a School Teacher.” I had a cold a week ago and a few people at work told me that I should pick some up, yeah right. No way am I going to take a product developed by a “School Teacher” with cartoon characters on the box. Is the fact that it was developed by someone not in the medical industry really supposed to be a plus for a cold medicine?
* Check out the last comment on this thread. I didn’t verify to see if it was true, but interesting.

9/21 – 4 miles
9/22 – 20 miles @ 7:27 pace
9/23 – off
9/24 – 8 miles + 2 miles with Vibram Five Fingers
9/25 – 7.1 miles + 2 miles with Vibram Five Fingers
9/26 – Regis University 5k + 3.1 mile cool down
9/27 – 6.5 miles + 2 miles with Vibram Five Fingers

Total 57.82 Miles

* Took it easy last week, plan on hitting it hard this week and the next before I start the taper.
* Rod Smith chillin’ with RunColo and JM, pictured above.
* Rod Smith is now in the coffee business.
* Took my four year old daughter to the track to see if she could run a mile. She did in 13:32, ran the entire time, I was impressed.
* Boulder Half Marathon Review
* Regis University 5k Review
* Timing a race in Cody, Wyoming this weekend, never been there before.
* Next race for me will be the Harvest Moon Hustle 5k in Littleton, in two weeks.

9/14 – 5.5 miles + 2 miles with Vibram Five Fingers
9/15 – 5.5 miles + 2 miles with VFF
9/16 – 6.1 miles + 2 miles with VFF
9/17 – 20 miles @ 7:47 pace
9/18 – 5.5 miles + 2 miles with VFF
9/19 – 7.1 miles
9/20 – Boulder Half Marathon + 3 miles warm up/cool down.

Total 73.8 Miles

Thoughts:

* Most miles that I have ever run in a week.
* Boulder Marathon results are still not posted?
* I’m planning on running Regis University 5k this Saturday.
* Several new race reviews on the RunColo Forum.
* Good article on Brad Hudson
* My achilles is feeling better, sort of weird since I have had back to back 70+ mile weeks.
* I felt good with two high mileage weeks under my belt, especially considering the past two weeks that I have dealt with the flu and a cold.
* I LOVE this weather, yesterday I was complaining about the heat, today I ran in a long sleeved shirt and gloves, tomorrow is the first day of fall! Fall is the best season of the year – if you think summer – you’re wrong.

09/07 – 10.1 miles
09/08 – 7.1 miles
09/09 – 20.1 miles (easy)
09/10 – 8 miles
09/11 – 5.5 miles + 2 miles in Vibram Five Fingers
09/12 – 8.5 miles
09/13 – 7.1 miles + 2 miles in Vibram Five Fingers

Total 70.4 Miles

A good week of training, these cool fall temps have invigorated me. I have not blogged much lately. The previous week was a rough one, pretty sure I came down with the Swine Flu, and the entire family went down in a period of one to two days. If it wasn’t the Swine it was some other type of flu, definitely not food poisoning or anything like that, but it was perhaps the worst I have ever felt in a 12-14 hour time period and to top it off the family was in Lake Powell on a house boat which did not help matters. The rest of the week I felt OK, about 90% but had some difficulty breathing and just a general feeling of malaise. The Achilles is still sore, but manageable with NSAIDs and icing.

Signed up to run Boulder Half Marathon on Sunday, hoping to go <1:23, I ran a 1:23:22 last year, so hopefully I can at least best last year's time.

THOUGHTS

* Read “Catch Me if You Can” good stuff
* Documentary Confessions Of A Superhero is really good
* An Honorable Run was mentioned in Sports Illustrated last month
* I’m tired of seeing USC dominate the Big Ten
* U of Colorado is horrible this year in football, was Darrel Scott really that good in high school?
* Is it really an upset when Notre Dame gets beat by a Big Ten team?
* I got home to catch the last minute of the Bronco’s game today, wow, what a finish. Something tells me that Brandon Marshall would not have ran off those few extra seconds like Brandon Stockley though.
* I’ve got MLB playoff fever, but I am a die hard Cardinals fan and really don’t want to see a first round match up between the Rockies, as I really like the Rockies as well.