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!! 

Back to Academy and the Foothills to end January

Likhaya couldn't make it again this week, he was a bit preoccupied with the arrival Monday of his baby boy Nehemiah. For any ladies who might read this I know I have to add details, 8 pounds, 10 ounces, 21 inches long. He sent me a message yesterday telling me and didn't tell me not to blab so I hope he doesn't mind this going here.

I left work a little after 2:00 this afternoon and headed east. Yes this is becoming a Thursday afternoon habit and I love it. As long as the weather is nice and boy was it today. Thank goodness we finally did get a little snow in the mountains but I hope we get lots more, and soon.

The temp was upper 40's with a light breeze, not as much in the Foothills as on the westside when I left work thankfully. I started with a short warm up walk after parking at the Albertson's at Academy and Tramway then crossed under Tramway in the tunnels and headed up along Simms Park Rd toward Elena Gallegos. I followed the same route I ran with Likhaya a couple weeks ago but slowed the pace just a little so I could do all the first uphill, over a mile, without stopping like I had to last time.

I attacked the hills very hard so the pace after that slowed a little also but I definitely noticed improvement. The whole route seemed to take a little less time today and was an absolute blast. I enjoy this more and more all the time. As always the road section was my least favorite but that's part of it.


Tomorrow I have to leave early again but this time I am going to climb on two wheels for a little cross training.

I do run in a beautiful place!

Busy week

Along with a shower my office has a pretty nice view

It's been such a busy week, end of month always is for me, that I forgot that I promised myself to keep up with my runs here. Monday morning it was warm enough to get in a couple road miles so I ran to work. It is so nice having an office with a shower!! Run to work, my lovely wife brings my clothes when I don't take them the night before), take a shower and get to work.

I wasn't thrilled with my speed/pace but I seldom am on the road. I will get better but only by continuing to do it. Which I will do. It's about 2 miles so that's not a bad way to start the day and week.

South Foothills trail running with Jodi

Up 125', down 400', up 400' down 125'

I LOVE trail running and I LOVE the Foothills. We waited for the temps to rise and the wind to subside, a little, then headed to the other side of town for a very enjoyable run.

Sadly, I did not find one thing I thought for sure we would, mud! I thought surely after the rain yesterday there would be some but nope, no mud anywhere.

I so hope we get more rain and the mountains get snow.

Track time, first since high school

I read more and more articles about the benefits of speed training on a track. I haven't been run on a track since high school and what I did then was really not called "speed." If first felt like it was going horribly but when I looked back at the times it wasn't as terrible as I thought. I am going to try to keep up track work a couple times per week to see if it will improve.

Tomorrow morning I am going to try to drag out of bed early enough to run to work. I need to get there early anyway so why not do it the fun way.

Bring on Valles Caldera

  After today's FANTASTIC run I feel much better about the possibility of me being able to run the Valles race. But, more important things first.

Very hard to hike this time last year due to snow

  You all hear me bitch and moan and complain about cold weather and snow, well today I'm worried about snow again. This time, the serious lack of it. Two years ago in February I hiked to above 9,000' on the same trail I did today. From just over 8,000' I was in a lot of snow. From 8,300 to over 9,000' I desperately needed snow shoes and the lack of is why I turned around that day. Today, at almost 8,300' there was practically zero snow. Normally that would be fine with me but that forest is far, far too dry! We're in trouble in 2013.
  In the summer of 2011 I bought a road bike because all the trails closed due to fires and fire danger. I will have to resort to road running by early spring I would say. I just thought of that, I may do all this training and not get to run because the trail will be closed. NOT, that running, this race or anything related to these is the important part. What is important is that New Mexico is going to burn up this year  I'm afraid. Very afraid.
  But as far as the run today goes. WOW!!! What a workout. The LaLuz trailhead is at 7,024' according to my GPS. I wanted to do this run today because 1) Likhaya was busy and couldn't run with me, 2) I knew it would be a nice hard training run and 3) the Valles run has a LOT of downhill and is entirely over 8,000' so I wanted to see what that felt like.
  The climb I won't even try to deny included a lot of walking. I would say 35% / 65% running/walking. MAYBE a little more running but I doubt it. Now the return is a different story it was 100% to )% run/walk. And it felt good. I definitely have to keep losing weight and work hard on those hill climbs. I am very pleased with my downhill form and performance, but of course it will improve also as the climbing does and as the weight goes down.
  I am SOOOO stinking fortunate to live where I have any training format I need from 5,000' and up to almost 11,000' right here in town!!! And very, very fortunate to have a team that I work with that doesn't complain about me putting in my hours early in the week so I can take Thursday afternoons off to play.

7,024' at trailhead, 8,256' where I turned around

  They're talking rain for Saturday, possible thunderstorms even, in January!! I hope we get rain all day. I will gladly give up a training day to get some moisture.

 Not even close to the top here. Another 2,400 feet to go. I will do the whole hike this year then run down. I have never done the entire LaLuz Trail.

 I have loved my Saucony Peregrine shoes since the moment I put them on my feet but today that appreciation was elevated greatly after they absolutely stuck like glue in the this snow!!!

Needless to say there is a mix of trail surface on this run. I LOVE trail running. Have I said that before?

Short but sweet speed training

  "Coach" Likhaya told me I also need to pick up the speed for short runs. Short is a relative term. Short to Likhaya is longer than a long run to me but he told me I needed to do short speed intervals to work on picking up the pace on my short runs.
  This morning I woke up about 5:30, warmed up hard in the house with some moves Jodi said they have been doing in the classes she's been taking at the gym, including running in place lifting my knees as high as possible then running in place lifting my feet as high behind me as I could. Yeah, I was warmed up when I headed outside.
  I did a 1/2 mile just as hard as I could go finishing in 4 minutes 20 seconds. For some reading this that isn't a "speed" run but for me I was quite pleased. Admittedly I wanted to keep it at 4 or under and maybe I could have a little later in the morning but this was my fastest 1/2 mile I know since high school and I think ever. It felt good and gives me a benchmark to build on.
  Tomorrow I am leaving work early and since Likhaya let me know today that he can't make it tomorrow I will probably head up to La Luz and see how that goes. The Valles Caldera run has a lot of downhill so I think practicing on LaLuz could be a good idea. Hopefully it will be warm like they predict.

More cross training.

Yep, walking is cross training. Today, other than running up and down the stairs a few times (42 stairs to my office), I stuck to walking home, approximately 2.5 miles. In a chilly headwind. This weekend I was thinking about the more running I'm trying to do and trying to get back on the bike more but with the cold weather I haven't been walking enough. That's going to change.

My wonderful director Melanie told me today that I can continue taking Thursday afternoons off when the weather is nice so Likhaya and I can run, or if he can't I can see if I'm improving on my Placitas time.

I printed a copy of the profile of the Valles Caldera run today and put it up right next to my desk so I can see it all the time and remind myself how hard I have to work.

Mariposa Park 5k with Laurie

Unlike this looks the elevation gain was just 98'

Today was another beautiful day. Yes, we would love a little warmer but compared to what we've had this was great. And starting a run at 1:00 in the afternoon was perfect. This time we stuck strictly to pavement, even though I would 100 to 1 rather run trail I know some events I run will be on asphalt and Likhaya says it's great training to mix it up.

We left Mariposa park and headed northwest in the general vicinity of Boca Negra, part of the Petroglyph National Monument. I have taken the Lovelace Cycle Team to this spot a few times but today Laurie and I decided to cut it to a 5k distance today as both of us had a good workout yesterday. This was Laurie's first time to Mariposa so I chose the route that kept us out of traffic. It sucks starting to feel good in your pace to then have to stop for cars several times.

I enjoyed the run and I'm pretty sure Laurie did also. Jodi walked / ran a few times around the mile track around the park while Laurie and I ran. She was still a "bit" sore from her kettlebell class Thursday night.

Our plan is to run here again in two weeks and see if more of the Lovelace team is interested in joining us. Weather permitting of course. Tomorrow, walk / jog home from work. 

Likhaya and I talked about the virtues of cross training along with running and he weather actually warmed up enough on Saturday that I convinced Jodi to get out with me. With the total sun and fairly light wind led us to our first bike ride of 2013, after finding Jodi a pair of shoe covers to block the cold and wind. 

We thought it prudent to keep it fairly easy for day one so we headed to the Alameda trailhead to hit the Bosque. I had mentioned to Jodi that if it were terribly busy we might head east and try the North Diversion Channel instead. Within the first half mile we had to slow and dodge for so many dog leashes and strollers there was no decision to make, we were going to the channel!

We could tell it had been a while since we had ridden, I had forgotten that Jodi had not been on a bike since September when she rode the Tour of the Rio Grande Valley ride, but it felt very good to be on two wheels again. I rode some in November and got in one ride in December before it turned so cold.

We finished at the UNM duck pond and walked around there for a while just watching the ducks. This afforded the best, most up close look at American wigeons I had ever had which was very cool. It was the most clearly I had seen the green iridescence of the head and it was lovely.

Total ride was just under 22 miles and not a bad first day out. On the way back the wind picked up so we ended up with a good workout and felt great afterward. Tomorrow, running with Laurie A. Kerr, another member of the Lovelace team. Hopefully the weather will again cooperate with us and Jodi will join us then too. Again, I'm going to do what coach Likhaya says and add some more road running. Can't wait for him to get his new shop open so I can get new road shoes!

Training Day 1 with Likhaya, Academy to Foothills

Profile of today's run

So this afternoon was my first run with Likhaya. I was obviously nervous to run with such a good runner but also excited for the opportunity. He met me at work and we headed to the foothills. On the way we talked about goals, methods, rest days, etc.

Map of today's run

We parked on the west side of Tramway on Academy and ran the trail under Tramway and up the hill to just before the entrance shack at Elena Gallegos. When he said we were going to park on Academy and run up I was afraid we would be on the road but we followed the trail all the way. Just before the shack we turned right and headed south, the same route I had run a few weeks earlier. But with Likhaya following closely behind me I stepped it up a notch or two.

To my dismay I did have to take a few periods of walking on the long uphill start but that is one of my goals, to NOT walk on a run unless it's over 10 miles. I knew if I pushed and didn't walk a little I would be burned at the end and my pace would suffer badly.

One of my favorite parts about trail running, and one of the things I do pretty well at, is attacking a hill in front of me. Once I've warmed up well and caught my second wind if a hill isn't too long or too steep I like to just hit it hard instead of dragging it out. He told me that one of the things he plans to work on is me picking up my feet higher behind me to greatly help my speed. After he saw me attach a few hills he told me he could see that I had it in me to do just what he was talking about. That boosted the confidence for sure.

If you've ever been in the foothills you know the trails offer a lot of quick, short rolling hills with few long climbs so the pace is fairly easy to maintain. I felt I had done pretty good, better than expected, and was pretty pleased with the run. Then I asked the distance and pace (he wore a Nike Sportswatch, I didn't want any extra weight at all so I didn't carry GyPSy). And was even more pleased!! He said he took out the walking and said we averaged about a 10:15 pace. I was thrilled!! I've only done close to 10 minute miles a few times so this proved how right I was about needing to be pushed my a strong runner. He didn't verbally push me, just by him being there I pushed myself. And I was pleased when he said we had done almost 5 miles.

Profile of my ultimate goal

We talked more about my goals and I know seeing me run will help him in laying out my training plan. His first race for me is the Zoo Run and I told him I definitely want to do the 10K! I am STOKED!!!! He knows my ultimate goal is the Valles Caldera run and said that he thinks I will be ready this year. I told him I have no delusions of winning or even being close to the front, I told him I just do not want to finish last and be an embarrassing 15 minutes behind next to last.

Looking forward to next week. He invited me to run with his group Saturday morning but if the Lovelace Team, or some members thereof, want to I would like to run with them. Either way I will run Saturday. Game on!

So begins the training

I've made all sorts of promises to try and do better at blogging. Now I have a good reason. Tomorrow, Thursday 17 January 2013, I have the great fortune of running for the first time with Likhaya Dayile, one of the best, and best known, runners in the Albuquerque area. As my previous post from October explained we attended running clinics sponsored by Sport Systems. Likhaya has since left Sport System and is opening his own shop on the westside. We are so, so stoked about that.

His shop will be called Bosque Running Shop and will be located at the northeast corner of Coors and Montano. Once he gets the phone installed and his company email I will post full info with links and photos.

I run because I enjoy it and know I have little chance of ever being a really strong runner. I am almost 53 years old, weight almost 225 pounds, have two bad knees and some herniated discs. But I gave Likhaya an idea of what I want to accomplish and have no doubt that he can get me as close to those goals as anyone. I recently restarted the back pain that basically grounded me last year by lifting incorrectly at the gym while visiting our son in Springfield. I should have known better but it is hard to admit that I'm not as strong as I used to be and have issues that force me to be more careful. I also must have overdone it with the shoulders because our P/T department tells me I have tendonitis and have to take that easy as well.

It's been too cold to bike so I am really enjoying running. Whitney Wilson invited me to join her in the Runner's World Holiday running challenge that called for running no less than a mile everyday from Thanksgiving to New Year. I made it 28 days but it was getting colder and colder and I only lasted a few days on the treadmill.

Through vacation, a horrible sinus infection right after getting back, then the holidays and a trip to our son's in Missouri I gained over 15 pounds. I had already gained almost 10 over the year with my back keeping me down and out so much. So I have a lot of work to do. But with a great goal in mind and a coach to push me I have a great feeling that I just might do it. If my back continues to bug me I will have surgery if necessary. Being totally down for a short time beats the hell out of being mostly down for another year.

Beneficial running clinics

The Director of our department at the hospital sent a link to me last month advertising free running clinics at Sports Systems, where she used to be a clothing buyer. As I am prone to do I got pretty excited then as the time neared I strongly considered skipping it. I'm glad we didn't skip it.

The first night it was led by Lakia and Jeff, two employees at Systems and there were I think eight attendees. They began by demonstrating techniques and tricks to help us run more efficiently which would eventually lead to more speed. The class was enjoyable, all participants receptive, engaged and pleasant.

So three weeks later, last Wednesday, when it was time for another we decided to go again. There were four participants this time and Lakia was there by himself. He started with the same techniques we had seen three weeks earlier but he was able to expound on them due to fewer participants.

Since some of the same people came back Lakia said he would hold the clinics twice a month going forward. I've been trying to incorporate what he has been showing us into my runs and make some desperately needed changes. By doing that this morning I noticed better efficiency and more speed both. I felt good for longer. It was still early a.m. and I started on an uphill so 2.5 was all I managed and walk a cool down, get home and get ready for work. I am really looking forward to 1 November when I move into my new office with a shower so I can run to work, shower and hit the desk.

I definitely see the advantages of the clinics and very much look forward to the next. I'll try to put more techniques to use while trail running in UT!!!!

Trailrunning the Tram to La Luz

I was way too busy to take photos but I had a GREAT trail run today in the north Foothills. The downhill section was encouraging when looking at the map of the Valles Caldera race for next year.