Seriously Forrest, Take a Break

Sometimes it is hard to explain to non-runners what the appeal of running is. And other times it can even be hard to explain this to dedicated runners. Tonight was my weekly running club that heads out from our local Micro-brewery for a 6-8 mile easy run. Normally there are anywhere from 5 to 10 folks in the longest group, which I run with. These guys have some chops, and my running credentials do not hold a lot of water with this crew. Multiple Boston runners, front of the pack ultra runners, etc. Needless to say there were only 4 of us that started the run tonight. All but one turned around at 2 miles to head back to the bar. Guess who the one was.

I did not go far, about 6 miles. I suppose it was the 8 degree temps, or the horizontal snow blowing in the 20 mile per hour winds, that turned everyone else around. Seriously, I had a really nice run. Sometimes it takes that kind of night to really clear my head. Hard to explain.

I got back to the bar. Everyone was laughing and cheering that I made it. All I could think was that if I had not promised Jen I would be home, and I really wanted to see the kids before bed, I would still be out there. Because I enjoy it.

Scott

Sled Necks

I had a great day today. Yesterday, I received an email from a friend who has 2 snowmobiles, and he wanted to head out this morning for some high mountain backcountry riding above the ghost town of St. Elmo, CO. I was able to peel away form the family (thanks to my awesome, gracious wife!!!) and get out for about 4 hours of solid riding before packing up and heading back home. I will try to get some pictures up tomorrow. We hit two passes, and spent about half our time above treeline and half in the trees riding trails. The snow was light and deep, it was crazy fun.

After I returned we went to Jen's brothers house to celebrate our nephew's 12th birthday, then came home and put some very tired kids to bed. I did manage to still get on the treadmill for 3 miles, then rode the spin bike for 10 minutes to cool off.

Now I am going to bed.

Thursday

Nothing too exciting today. Long day at work then straight to cub scouts with Sam. Once I finally got home I did manage 4 miles with the dog. Jesse did good tonight. I usually dread taking her because she can be quite the spazz on the leash and she cannot be trusted off leash. Other than a giant poop in the middle of the street she was fine tonight.

Morning Miles

Just finished 7 miles and it is 6:15 am. Weather was perfect, cool with no wind or snow, and the miles are coming back fairly easily. After about 1 more full week of re-establishing base miles I will begin adding a day of hills or speedwork in to the weekly routine.

Quiet house, no one is up yet. Time to go read the paper and have a cup of coffee.

Time to Go Back to School (no, not really)

Life has been very busy, between chasing the (4) kids, work, work and more work. It was definitely time to sign up for a race. I really have not run significantly for myself since Leadville, with the exclusion of finishing the Denver marathon last fall (but really I was simply there to document Jen's first marathon... that was her race).

So what to do, what to do... I think I will go to college!! Of course, I mean the Collegiate Peak Trail Run.

50 miles of beautiful trails around Buena Vista, CO. I am really looking forward to this, as all reports have stated  this is a great run and well organized.

http://www.collegiatepeakstrailrun.org/

There really is no motivation like a registration. This time it feels great, I am really invigorated to get into a solid routine again, as opposed to the "here and there" running I have been doing the last year. Right now I am focusing on re-establishing a solid base, at about 25-30 miles a week. after another week or so, I will keep it pegged between 30-40 miles a week with a day per week of hills or speedwork, and at least one day per week of weights. By the end of Feb I should be averaging 35+ miles per week and building the long runs to get myself ready. Not ready for any predictions yet, but I have a real positive attitude this time, and I think it is reasonable for me to start looking at goals for Ultras beyond simply finishing.

More to come...