Weeknight training, very nice and bump into a friend to make it even better

As is typical for me I've been a bit vocal about being unhappy moving from my old office to the new cubicle. Admittedly it is in some ways better than I thought it would be. One definite advantage of being downtown is getting out of work just after 4:00 and being able to go to the UNM golf course, my favorite route of any the Lovelace Team has done, and put in some hilly miles on dirt (mostly).

Last night Jodi and I headed over right after work and discovered that during the week parking there is an issue until after 8:00 p.m. because of student/faculty parking. We finally found a place to park on the side of the road far enough from our route to get in a bit of a warm up walk first. The loop we do is almost exactly 2 miles so we did it twice, first clockwise then counterclockwise which starts with a big hill. Jodi pushed it a bit and achieved what I thought was a great pace for hills and dirt.

Tonight we headed over again and didn't have to waste time looking for parking. She had a stop to make afterward so she only get in one lap tonight but going into it we knew that was the plan so we stepped up the pace even more. She ended up with great pace for that 2 miles.

When she left to do her other errands I traded glasses from the car and grabbed my headlamp for a couple more rounds. I reversed the route and headed up the big hill at a good pace, feeling great and starting to breathe hard when I looked up and there was the lady I owe all the thanks in the world to for introducing me to the Kim King and her trail group, Kathy Kirsling. What a great lady and amazing inspiration. I was so glad to see her. We talked for a few, about running and racing of course (comparing lists of races we want to do next year, etc) then as I started up the hill again she called after me and SHE thanked ME for making her smile. So funny that she said I made her smile when the truth is she made me smile and feel so good I knocked 30 seconds off my average my pace for the next mile and a half.

I love the fact that we've had a bit of warmer weather and that we are just about to the shortest day of the year, that means that after this weekend the days start to get longer, which means more laps at the golf course before dark! Bring on the weekend!

Plus, we have the last Lovelace Team run of 2013 this Saturday and it is trail then Sunday I am running with Kim's group, very excited about that! 7 miles in the Foothills.

Great run on the Cedro Peak route

It worries me that I am learning to enjoy running in cold and snow, though I do wish the snow would be fresh rather than frozen and crusty. This wasn't as frozen as what I mountain biked and ran through in Santa Fe on Thanksgiving Day, luckily. Along with it just looking like a winter wonderland running in this stuff is also great training.

I met 8 other brave souls at the Cedro Peak Picnic Area off Oak Flats Rd at 9:00 for our morning run. I love running with a popular group so we have this many participants. Sandia Trail Runners Meetup Group is the most encouraging, inviting bunch of folks. I certainly see having a lot of fun with them while training for my ultimate 2014 event, the Mt Taylor 50k in Sept.

It's hard to talk with a few of these folks about any race remotely near here and not be talking to
someone that has participated in the event before. Insider info can never hurt.

Next event I plan to participate with these guys, 1 January 2014, the ABQ Foothilss Hangover 50k. I won't do 50, I'm working up to that but I do hope to complete a trail half, 13.1 miles that day. We'll see.

Jodi PR's again

Well, I guess I've created a monster. After PRing the Posole Ole last week and another cold, yet not as cold, Saturday morning rolling around when Jodi really wanted to stay home she ran this morning. This being the next to last team run until spring and knowing that some people were coming to join us was the deciding factor I think but when she took off I knew it was going to be a good run.

It was Jodi, two others from the Lovelace Team and me at Tingley Beach. Everyone had a busy schedule and it was cold so we settled on 3 miles and headed north. Jodi led the way and stayed there the whole run. After we turned around at the 1.5 mile mark she picked up the pace a little and gained some ground. I stayed back with the others, talking all the time as always to help keep them distracted and finished shortly behind her.

When it was all over Jodi had stepped up her average pace 16 seconds per mile compared to last week's PR. No fan fair, no crowds, no timer and no bib, but she improved again and had what she said was the most fun run she has ever had. Here comes the monster.

Eat too much then have a great run, I'm learning

Last night was Lovelace Westside Hospital's Service Award celebration. Though I'm technically not a Westside employee any longer and I moved away from Westside on Monday after being there for three years, and Jodi having been there for almost four, we kind of invited ourselves and every one I mentioned it to asked us to come back.

It was great to see everyone I had not gotten to say goodbye to before I left Monday and the food at Westside is always fantastic, I miss Jennifer and her cafeteria crew more than anyone there. So yes, I ate way too much but instead of going home and sitting on my ass like I usually would I went home, changed clothes and got in a pretty damn good 5k at a good pace considering the undulating hills and the sand on most of the route. I felt so much better about that than I would have for sitting there. I'm learning.

Now to look forward to a team run Saturday morning where I will take it easy to save myself to run with the Sandia Trail Runner's Meetup group on Sunday on a 10ish mile run on Cedro Peak. Really, really looking forward to that one.

Cold weather finally got to me

Monday I moved into my new office which was stressful in more ways than one. As badly as I needed it I was not in the mood for yoga and almost didn't go but at last minute I decided what the hell, changed clothes and headed that way. So glad I did. I had a week as good as last week's yoga class was bad and made me feel so much better. Michelle is so patient and helpful.

Tuesday night it was just too cold to run outside. Well, it wasn't but that's what my brain kept telling me and making me feel colder and colder and colder so I listened to it and stayed home saying Wednesday would be better and I would go run. Well Wednesday came along and was very little warmer and again I just could not make myself do it. We decided on the gym because Jodi was in total agreement that it was COLD!!!

The gym turned out to be a great idea. I warmed up a little then cranked up the incline to 4%, the speed to 4.8 mph and the time to 20 minutes. The good thing about the treadmill, as much as I give it shit, is that it keeps you at that pace even when you don't want to be. I committed to not touch any button for 20 minutes. I ran almost 2 miles of nonstop uphill. It was great. Then I hit the machines for a few and went home.

12082013 Best Run Ever, snow and all

After the previous post I looked at the official times for the Posole Ole 5k, Jodi not only finished without walking at all, she PR'D!!! I was very proud considering I never in a million years would have thought she would run in weather that cold and considering she talked a couple times about not making it to the end running!!

I had planned on a good long trail run either Saturday afternoon after the race or Sunday late morning so we could sleep in and rest a little. We took our time getting ready, not that it was going to warm up much but what the heck.

I had Jodi drop me at the Tram station, got out and hit the trail at almost exactly 11:00. I walked to ice cleats because the hill was total ice. Usually I stop at the top, take a drink, take a break but not today. It was too damn cold for either. As soon as I hit the top I hit the start button on my watch and took off. It was hard on the downhills to hold back, even though the ice cleats gave me amazing traction I still had to have the energy to run all the way to Copper, which I knew was a good 10 miles south of me across mixed terrain but mostly snow and ice.
the
top of the hill by the water tank as a warm up before I started running. Thankfully I had my
  The only time I took the snow cleats off was from where Trailhead Rd meets Glenwood Hills to where I got back on the trail at Comanche. I couldn't take them off on Trailhead because there was so much ice and with them I could run downhill as if the road was dry. It was pretty cool that when I took them off my pace picked up very well on the road, again I had to hold back even after having already run almost 6 miles.
  I actually continued and pulled it off, I ran the full 10.7 miles. About mile 8 some of it was pretty darn slow but I finished strong. Bring on the 20k next month.

2013 Posole Ole for Special Olympics

Friday was a rest day as I had decided to run the Posole Ole 5k sponsored by Bosque Running Shop and my buddy Likhaya Dayile. The weather forecast was for cold and cloudy but light winds and very little chance of precip. The forecast was dead on, 19 degrees, felt like 11 at the start.

Friday night I spent over two hours sitting at Likhaya's registering for the race and just shooting the breeze with him and Angie, the event organizer. The cause, Special Olympics, and the fact that Likhaya was the sponsor running shop were the reasons I ran the event but a big plus was the great long sleeve tech tee we got. HAHA.

Jodi's fastest paced 5k, official pace 11'51"

Jodi decided to run it also so we got there in plenty of time to get her registered and walk around to get Balloon Fiesta field. I thought it funny that Jodi having been to Balloon Fiesta 48 times and a running event was the reason for our first time in the museum.
used to the cold. The run started right on time winding around

The run went well. I paced for Jodi, she had not run since returning from vacation and had not run a 5k with no walking since Day of the Tread so I was determined to help her finish this one without walking. She did that perfectly well.

Tomorrow, I hit the Foothills for at least 10 to train for my first event of the new year that will probably be the Coldwater Rumble in Goodyear (Phoenix), AZ the last weekend of January.

Busted!!

I guess you have to consider it sad when your watch realizes you haven't run in a few days. It was a tough start to the week. Sunday I spent with Jodi since she had just gotten home Saturday afternoon so I didn't do any running.

Monday night was yoga so I didn't run, and pulled my knee in the class. Tuesday night I didn't feel well and my knee was still hurting. Wednesday I still didn't feel well and stayed home from work so obviously I didn't run, but I did pack up my running gear to leave straight from work on Thursday and hit a trail.

It's a shame you can't tell your watch that you're packed and ready and later tell it that you're dressed and ready. Twice Thursday the damn thing beeped and basically told me to get off my ass. The second time was literally as I was putting on my running shoes to leave work.

As I walked to the car the view was totally amazing and a good sign of the run to come. It was 24 degrees, felt like 12. I'm actually learning to embrace the cold and enjoy running in snow. Due to the snowy, icy dirt parking I parked at the Alameda Bosque parking and walked under the bridge to start running the trail heading north. I wanted to get in 5 or 6 miles but forgot that on the east side of the river the trail ran into reservation land and trespassing was not allowed. I pushed hard for the first mile trying to get in a fast mile, the rest was to enjoy the run. I did just a little over 4 miles and really enjoyed it.

Step 3, Fat Ass

So November 9th came. The forecast was for a cold start but sunshine and very light winds. The

White Mesa Fat Ass 50k

forecast was spot on. I was nervous yet excited as we drove the long drive to San Ysidro and down the dirt road to the parking lot. When we arrived there were several people already there, some had even already started because they were doing the full 50k. I had no delusions that I could do that I just hoped to finish two loops for the 25k.

After a "door" prize drawing and registering the run started uphill on the first clockwise (each lap switched clockwise then counterclockwise) lap began. It is a pretty steep start so I was relieved to see that several, most, of the runners walked after a short way. I did. Then the route levels off and is rolling hills for about 2 miles before it hits a steeper downhill followed by a rock scramble and a very steep, short uphill.

Once we finished another very steep downhill the trail leveled off in the valley for a while then started climbing again. This is a beautiful route either direction. My first loop went well overall though I did a little backtracking and route searching right after the valley section. I was pleased enough with my time for that loop considering the terrain.

At the end of the first loop I stopped by the car (sure different from road running) to lose a layer, refill water bottles and pee. Only problem, I forgot the refill part.

My second loop didn't go as well though I did finish it. My overall time for the 25k was 4 hours 22 minutes which was slower than I had hoped for but I was ok since that was my first run of that length. I can't deny hurting and I learned why some runners do what I had read about, they leave a drop back on a long run with clean, dry socks and spare shoes. If I had gone another 1/2 mile I would have had to have a break for my feet.

By finishing this 25k I now know that with some training I can become an ultra runner.

Let's go.

Step 2, Find what's next

Through 1 or 3 (dozen, per week, at least) hours of Google and Bing searches looking at trail running and ultrarunning I found the Sandia Trail Runners Meetup group and signed up. I emailed one of the members and talked a little about ultra running. She invited me to a meeting about a trail running "class" coming up soon. I attended the meeting and met several more local trail runners.

  Soon after signing up for the Meetup group they posted a run I could not avoid looking into further. On November 17th they were holding a Poker Run in the Foothills. Due to a few questions regarding directions to the run and questions about the run route and where cards would be located the organizers

A few participants in the Poker Run

of the run decided to have an orientation run on 26 October. These people were very welcoming and as always running in the Foothills was great. I started toward a great hand but ended up with only a pair of queens but that took 2 minutes off my time. I was hooked again. Now to find more time to participate with them.

  Some of these guys and gals also participate in a local run series called the Albuquerque Fat Ass Series a, usually, free, unsupported race series of 50k events in the vicinity of Albuquerque. The soonest event scheduled was the White Mesa 50k on November 9th. The route of this run was a 8.1 mile loop, four of which makes a bit over 50k. I knew I couldn't even think of doing a 50k, but I had to wonder how 2 laps would go, the 25k I've been wanting.

Step 1, Run a trail race

  On October 6th of 2013 I completed my journey of falling in love with trail running when I ran Sandia Mountain Shadows 5k. I knew I loved trails and would enjoy competing but this was the event I had been waiting for. I had a hard time deciding whether or not to register for it but after completing the Albuquerque 10k on April 20th better than I thought I would I came home and registered that night for the Valles Caldera 10k which was supposed to be my first trail race. When I got word that the Thompson Ridge Fire had put an end to it for this year I registered for Sandia Mountain Shadows 5k.

Coming down the back stretch

  Speaking of finishing better than I thought, going into Mountain Shadows my best training time had been over 37 minutes. I knew the adrenaline of the race should improve my time but to not set myself up for disappointment I had three goals, 1) FINISH, 2) not finish last and 3) finish in 38 minutes if possible but at least not over 40. 1) I did finish, strongly and happily, 2) there were 27 people finished in front of me but 25 finished behind me (middle of the pack is a great place to be) and 3) my time was 34:41. Thrilled doesn't even come close, I was ecstatic.

  I came home wondering what would be next. How far could I run? In the spring while training for the Valles Caldera 10k I had run from the LaLuz Trail Head to Lomas, over 14.5 miles. There was quite a bit of walking involved and I had not yet accepted that a little walking is part of trail racing, unless you're an elite athlete which I obviously am not, but even with some walking if I could do that in the spring ..... can I do a trail 25k? That's just 1 more mile.