Trainig Weeks Three-Six

It has been a little while since my last update, but fortunately, I'm more diligent with running than blogging. Week three went pretty well, with temperatures consistently around 32℉, I was able to wear shorts most days. Finished out the week with 14 miles is Waterton Canyon with Dad.

Cold and windy, but a great run! Photo: Chis Boyack

Monday- Rest
Tuesday- 6 miles
Wednesday- 5 miles
Thursday- 6 miles
Friday- Rest
Saturday- 14 miles
Sunday- Moved to next Monday
Total- 31 miles

Week four was spring break for me, and scheduled to be a bit more relaxed. I got a couple runs in with Bryant, which, coupled with surplus O₂ and temps in the 60s made for some awesome runs. Pounding the pavement took it's toll, though, by Friday I had some intense pain in my foot. Best guess is high milage on hard surfaces made it mad.

Monday- 5.5 miles
Tuesday- 5.5 miles
Wednesday- 3 miles
Thursday- 6 miles
Friday- Rest
Saturday- Rest for foot
Sunday- Rest for foot
Total- 19.8 miles

Week five was pretty quiet. My foot was feeling mostly better by Wednesday, but I kept off it until Saturday, just in case. Saturday's run did not go very well, either. My foot didn't give me any trouble, but it was snowing sideways, and I was not in shape for running at 10,000' quite yet.

Monday-Friday- Rest
Saturday- 3.6 miles
Sunday- Rest

This week (six) was much better. The weather has been beautiful, my coldest run this week was 27℉, and everything feels good again.

Monday- Rest
Tuesday- 5 miles
Wednesday- 7 miles
Thursday- 7 miles
Friday- Rest
Saturday- 12 miles
Sunday- 7.5 miles
Total-  38.5 miles

And a few pictures from Saturday:

Looking up California Gulch, about four miles in.

Sign marking the site of Oro City, the Leadville before Leadville.

Looking West at Massive and Elbert

Looking South from Iowa Gulch

Training Week Two

This week was uneventful for the most part, and I'm starting to get into the groove again. Monday night I decided to head over to the gym to do some bouldering, and ended up getting talked into doing an Insanity workout the next morning. I showed up at 7 a.m. on Tuesday and got my butt kicked. For those of you who are not familiar with Insanity, it is like an aerobic version of P90X, or that's the idea. For me, it was pretty anaerobic. As a result, I ended up doing 4.5 miles on Tuesday, instead of six. Totals for the week are as follows:

Monday- Rest/Bouldering
Tuesday- 4.5 miles+Insanity
Wednesday- 5 miles
Thursday- 6 miles
Friday- Rest
Saturday- 14 miles
Sunday- 5 miles

My Saturday long run was one of the best runs I have ever had. I ran the first leg of the Mt. Sherman Marathon, up the Mineral Belt trail to California Gulch, and then over the ridge into Iowa Gulch to the gates of the Black Cloud mine, the last operating mine in Leadville (not counting Climax, which has recently reopened). It was nice to have some asphalt under foot for a change, but it felt really sticky after running six miles on snow. Here are some pictures from Saturday:

Route

Looking down on Leadville at dawn

Wabbits!

Elbert and Massive form Iowa Gulch

Mt. Massive from the Mineral Belt

Elbert and Massive from West of campus

All I had for taking pictures was my phone, but I am very happy with how they turned out.