Monday Oct 23

Rest day. Feeling pretty tired, slow day at the office followed by some All-Terrain Yoga at Rayback.

Tuesday Oct 24 10 Miles, 312′ 1h14m

Double Boulder Reservoir Loop with 10x20s Strides thrown into the second round. Really enjoying the views of the Flatirons as well as the foothills while stretching my legs out on some cushy gravel. I also had a chance to “talk to animals” well… prairie dogs after the work portion of my session finished — they didn’t have much to say, but maybe they’re just shy.

Wed Oct 25, 7 Miles 974′ 1h7m

Front door jaunt up Hogback Ridge and back via the foothills trail. Easy recovery-like effort with a bit of climbing, and lots of soft-ground. I keep forgetting that the climb up hogback is kind of a bitch, but the views over the plains are pretty sweet.

Thurs Oct 26, 10 Miles 410′ 1h15m

Front door road session to the reservoir and back. I was looking for something that would be moderately compassionate for the 6×20 strides I had planned, as well as something that would accommodate my relatively small window of time between work/social engagements. Forgot that it’s a net uphill return to my house, which explains the not unsubstantial positive splits post strides. Also dealt with some wicked headwinds,  but still better than waiting for the afternoon snow to set in.

Fri Oct 27, 6 Miles 384′ 48m17s

Very moderate effort out my front door to the Foothills Trail/Wonderland Lake. Everything felt solid/effortless overall, if a little bit sleepy.

Sat, Oct 28 14 Miles 3799′ 2h42m

NCAR>Bear Peak>Green Mountain>NCAR. Caught some folks who were participating in the BTR trail marathon right as I was beginning the proper ascent towards Bear. Ran pretty hard uphill both ways while taking it pretty relaxed on the downs, both as a result of last week’s digger, and the volume of snow/ice up high (really just not feeling risky). Overall ascent times were better than the previous week (excepting snow covered sections) and legs are feeling increasingly resilient.

Sun Oct 29, 11 Miles 2808′ 2h2m

Chatauqua>Gregory Canyon>Green via Greenman>Mesa via Bear Canyon>Chat plus 4x30s uphill striders, and some light yogging back to the Tonka. Quads were feeling a little testy this morning, and generally unwilling to crank uphill for the first 1200′ or so. Second half of Green felt pretty good until the ice patches (risk/return doesn’t look very good regarding higher altitude ice at speed) where I slowed a bit due to obvious traction concerns. Pretty relaxed effort off the cone of Green, and once I got to the cushy single track I opened things up a bit into honest-fun territory (faster than a casual jog, slower than a race with some surges on the more fun sections of trail). Took it really easy through Mesa, and then hit my strides pretty hard at the end. Upon checking my local ascent spreadsheet I found that my run up Green was actually my 3rd best time on the route despite the general malaise, so that’s definitely a positive showing.

Summary: 58.1 Miles, 8688′ 9h10m

Another encouraging week. I’m beginning to feel some of the impact of consistent running economy work–basically everything is starting to feel easier/more fluid, and like I’m actually beginning to lay down some foundational work for 2018 (as opposed to grinding myself out).