I really should write in this blog more often

2013 has been another crazy year so far. With work stuff and life etc, and we can't deny the fact that we're getting no younger and that does make a difference, it's been hard to stay motivated to workout like we were.

I trained pretty darn hard for the June 8th Valles Caldera 10K Trail Race that cancelled 5 days before it was run. After that, and the fact that I screwed up my knee getting Jodi's bike to go to the Caldera to explore the route, my drive to train diminished and I slacked off. Now I can tell it.

This Sunday, 11 August I am, we are, running the Rio Grande 5K benefiting Special Olympics sponsored by our buddy Likhaya Dayile and Bosque Running Shop. I'm hoping for a decent time but we shall see. My 5K PR is 31:15 and I will have to push it to beat that this time. I have been running much faster one miles but that wears me out so much I bonk by the end of three. I'm going to force myself to start out slower and save some for the end.

My next event will be the NM Sandia Mountain Shadows Trail Run on Sunday 6 October. Unfortunately that is the first Sunday of Balloon Fiesta but at least I will already be awake! We will go see balloons then head south to the Foothills to race. I'm glad I have plenty of time to train for it. I will use the schedule Likhaya gave me for the Caldera run and modify it from the 10K I was training for to the 5K I'm running this time.

And, yesterday I accepted taking over coordinating the Lovelace Running Team. I'm kind of excited but also wondering what I've gotten myself into. I am sure it will be fun and good for me.

More soon (yeah I know, I've said that before!). I need to get more rest and sleep to be ready to race.

Back to the Foothills and loving it

Yeah, it was warmer in Tucson and I LOVED the trail we ran there but I will never complain about getting to run in the Foothills of the Sandias in Albuquerque. Saturday was beautifully sunny and not that windy so the chill disappeared quickly once I started running. I started at the Copper trailhead and took off to the south. I LOVE running down to I-40 and back from Copper. 4 milesish I would guess though I left the electronics at home just to have a fun undistracted run. What fun. WHY OH WHY does anyone run on asphalt when these trails are here? I felt like it was a pretty fast run and some of the hill climbs seemed stronger.

Tucson training

I do hate to admit that I went a solid week between runs but I was a bit busy getting ready to be gone from work for a day and a half for our trip to Tucson to celebrate both our birthdays and Valentine's Day. At least those "holidays" were the justification to go somewhere WARM!!!

The sun shone the entire time and the temps climbed to near 80 degrees. Jodi and I were very happy campers, well hotelers. I was given strict orders by my good friend Serena to take Jodi to a nice hotel, NOT camping this time.

And nice hotel we found, by using Hotwire. My first time using it but not my last. We plan to return to Tucson many times and I hope we can get this Sheraton every time.

Friday afternoon after the birthday lunch that Lovelace Westside throws each quarter for those with birthdays that quarter Jodi and I headed south then west for what turned out to be a fantastic weekend. Even when we got there Friday night well after dark it wasn't cold.

Saturday morning we chose to drive clear across town for breakfast because we had come to explore Tucson. After breakfast we slowly wound our way back to the hotel and got biking gear together. I wanted to experience the Loop, a major cycling project of the city of Tucson so we found the closest access we could ride to from the hotel. We had no idea when we left just how great the trail would be and how much of it we would see that afternoon, turned out that we rode over 40 miles and loved it!! Oh, mostly we loved the warmth! It was breezy but not bad.

After coming back and relaxing in the hot tub to rest our weary muscles we planned our next adventure. Get up on Sunday, have a leisurely breakfast then don running clothing and shoes and head to the hills. I chose Sabino Canyon because I had read great things about it online and because it was on our side of town. When we pulled in the parking lot and could not find a parking space we knew what I had read must be true. After over eight and a half miles of gorgeous running, with some hiking breaks, we realized it was better than I had even read. I have to say Bear Canyon to Seven Falls is an absolute EPIC trail!

I can't wait to go back. Unfortunately we had to pack it up and leave Monday morning. It was almost as hard to leave there as it was San Diego back in October! I fell in love with the desert all over again.

Will mile number 1 always suck?

In case you haven't figured it out already I hate cold and windy weather!!! But I also hate running on a treadmill. I almost talked myself out of running at all but then 1) how can I say I'm "training" for a race and only run 1 to 2 days per week? and 2) Saucony posted this on Facebook: "Saucony

Some call it Sunday, but we know it as Run-day. Who's capping off the week with some extra mileage? #FindYourStrong."

I also almost talked myself into waiting until tomorrow and going to the gym with Jodi to run while she's in her class but I thought it better to do both. Besides, my wonderful crew at work gave me a gift certificate for my birthday so I used it to buy a new pair of running shorts and I wanted to see how I liked them so what the hell, onto the treadmill I went. 

Mile 1 sucked as always, but then it was the fastest mile I did,  but after that it became easier and more fun. I ended up with a total run of almost 4.25 miles and with warm up and cool down just over 4.5. No big deal except I set a few PR's!, longest run ever on a treadmill, longest run with zero walk break and longest run all at that pace. The pace has to improve but tonight I wanted to be sure and be able to finish the four miles.

Oh, the shorts felt great. Can't wait to run in them next weekend in Tucson. NOT on a treadmill.

Too long between runs I tell ya!!!

The start is scary!!!

It's been a crazy ass week and then some for sure and I needed a break. After my great run last Thursday afternoon I got a pretty good sinus mess I couldn't quite shake (AGAIN!!) so I had not run an inch since then and I needed to play. I did some cycling (50 miles last weekend) but I just couldn't breathe well enough to run. It's finally been better the last couple days so I took part of the afternoon off again and headed to LaLuz. I have been looking, often, at the profile for the Valles Caldera run and I know my biggest weakness is starting off on a hill. Caldera starts out with over 200' elevation gain in the first mile and a half! So I was wondering where I could closely simulate that for a training day and the LaLuz quickly came to mind.

I quickly discovered two things, 1) I HAVE to warm up before I start a real run, I walked less than .2 of a mile, I did stretch first, but that wasn't enough. I need to run a good quarter, even on level or very close to it is fine, to warm up then walk it off and have just a few minutes before the "run" starts. Today I decided to head up and see where 200' of climbing ended. Well on LaLuz, as you know if you've done it, that's not far. I ended up doing a little over 300' of gain to complete 3/4 mile of climbing. In other words much steeper than Caldera so this should be great training.

Hoping this kind of training will get me ready!!! I'm getting excited.

I did make it up and down the 3/4 of a mile three trips so a little over 1,000' of gain. Yes there was some walking on the ups, less on the second and third, but zero walking on the downs. Which is great training also because there is a lot of downhill at the Caldera. I think I may actually be ready for this thing. I have 4 months to train and in that time I would love to drop about 25 pounds.

I say again, I am SOOO fortunate to have these mountains to train in!! 

More saddle time

Just wasn't feeling up to a run today, sinus crap, so Jodi and I finally decided to brave the colder-and-more-gray-than-they-said-it-would-be weather for 16 miles on and around the Bosque. Good ride, good pace and checked out an area I had wanted to. 

First day of February afternoon of cross training

Working a few extra hours early in the week and being able to leave early has really paid off this week.  Yesterday's trail run and then this afternoon a 32 mile bike ride with lots of climbing makes for a good training week.

The sunshine and warm temps, even though it is the first day of February, made for a great afternoon of cruising on two wheels. I left the hospital and headed to Unser, rode to Northern, to Idalia to Iris to 550 back to Unser and home. Great ride until I turned left on 550 and the wind hit me in the face worse than hitting a brick wall. It was the toughest ride in a very, very long time. I actually dropped to the very lowest gear and could barely move. If I stopped pedaling it literally stopped me in a couple seconds. I had to be careful to get unclipped and my foot ready to hit the ground before it blew me over. I wasn't happy. 

But my legs certainly felt, FEEL, like I accomplished what I wanted. I kept the gear low and the cadence high. And the Scott, well she performed just like you would expect!!