Lemonade

Don't ask

Sitting here on a Sunday night with a cold Alaskan Amber, and I'm thinking I could use more weeks like this last one.  Unseasonably warm weather, an awesome kid and girl, a school year just about to hit its peak, and clean dogs(this rarely happens) top the list this week.  I encountered a running milestone this week as well - my first 80-mile week since 1997!

Clean-dog-in-process

80 miles.  Small potatoes to some in the ultra community.  Heck, plenty of folks competing in distances as short as 10k put that kind of work in regularly.  Elite marathoners like Jake handle 140-150 mph.  Even the dregs of society put in an occasional 80.  So what's the big deal, right?  Simply put, it's MY 80 mile week.  Yeah, it's just a number, but I feel it reflects the quality of training I've been able to maintain over the past few months.  In college, 80 miles - none of which were mountain miles, either - would wreck me.  I feel great today.  Wrapping my head around 100+ during the summer is no longer difficult.

As for the Lemonade.  I had been planning (somewhat) on doing the 13.1 at Salida on Saturday, but my himming and hawing came back and bit me, as it filled up by the time I decided to do it.  Kinda gave myself some lemons there.  Melissa had already planned out a whole day's worth of Cale activities, so I had the time...I just needed a plan.  Enter good ol' Brooks, who also had been shut out of Salida due to his own lack of sign-up ambition.  He shared his plan of an all-city-park run, where we would hit most of Colorado Springs's urban trails in one fell swoop.  Sign me up - this is just the type of thing I needed to turn the Salida snub into something sweet!  Marc joined us for the last 20 on what proved to be just a great run on a bluebird Colorado "winter" morning.

The 8 park 8 pack

I'm currently dealing with a change of perspective I find quite interesting.  Saturday's run marked the fourth time this year I've been 26.2+ for a training run.  Comfortably, with hills, trails, altitude, etc, we clicked away  the first 26.2 in about 3:40.  Today, I enjoyed a long afternoon in the foothills that included a comfortable ascent of the Incline.  The day after a 29-miler.  Really?  The cardinal rule of marathon training, according to gurus like Mr. Higdon and such, says never ever ever ever exceed 20 in training, as the recovery cost is simply too high.  After my first mary, I couldn't walk for a week!  I'm just fascinated at how one's perspective can change.  In order to succeed at a race like Leadville, I really had no choice.  Lucky it's just kind of been a byproduct of doing something I love.

As I said previously - give me a bunch of weeks like this!

Monday - 11 miles / 1,700' up Gold Camp Rd.
Tuesday - 10 miles / 500' (4 miles 6:40's to 6:20's)
Wednesday - 7 miles / 200'
Friday - 10 miles / 1,600'
Saturday - 29 miles / 2,300' (a few 2-4 minute pickups to 6:30's)
Sunday - 14 miles / 3,200' (Incline 28:00ish)
Total - 81 miles / 9,500'

I love falling in love with an album - it only happens once or twice a year.  El Camino has been my baby of 2012.  This song especially.