Week Summary 4/2 - 4/8

Monday              

AM: 4 miles, Recovery, South Platte Trail

AM: 4 miles, Recovery, South Platte Trail

Tuesday

AM: 3 miles, Recovery, South Platte Trail

AM: core strength/stretching

PM: 12 miles, 3186’, Mt. Falcon

We got a few inches of snow throughout the day and it was still coming down a bit when I started the run. Mt. Falcon is a pretty popular place and it’s been really crowded the past few weeks. But the snow and poor trail conditions scared everyone else away and I had the entire mountain to myself for 2 hours. Understandably my pace was considerably compared to the past few weeks, but I was happy with the effort. The first ascent was 32:31 and the second lap was 33:23.

Wednesday

PM: 14 miles, Aerobic, South Platte Trail

Thursday

AM: core strength/stretching

AM: 3 miles, Recovery, Cherry Creek Trail

PM: 11 miles, Intervals, South Platte Trail

I warmed up for 3 miles, then did 4 x 1 mile repeats with a 1 mile cool down between each. My main goal was to keep an even pace throughout the workout. The miles were 5:52, 5:44, 5:44 and 5:44.

Friday

PM: 10 miles, Aerobic, South Platte Trail

Saturday

AM: 30 miles, 7140’, Golden Gate Canyon State Park

This was only the third time running at GGCSP, and the first time since last June. I ran a very similar route to the Golden Gate Dirty 30 race, but started at the main visitor center so I’d have an hour warm up before the climb up Windy Peak. I started around 7am and didn’t see a single person in the first 2 hours (and only about 15 total in the 5 hours). It’s amazing how much solitude you can find in a state park just 30 miles from Denver.

view from Windy Pk

Sunday

AM: 10 miles, Aerobic, Wash Park

I felt really good considering the big mileage yesterday so I tried to push the pace a bit. I ran 4 laps (2.5 miles each) and dropped the pace about 20 seconds each lap, starting at 7:30 and finishing with a lap at 6:25 pace. It was a nice way to break up the monotony of 4 laps.

The mileage was slightly higher than my normal week lately, but for the most part it was a status quo week. My Achilles was feeling a bit tight early in the week so I opted to skip Thursday’s treadmill workout and I made sure I got in to see Dr. Stripling for some ART. Seemed to do the trick. It’s been about a month since Salida and I’m really itching to race again.

Recap

Time: 15:58

Miles: 101.8

Vert: 11,040’