Weekly Training Wrap - 7/14 - 7/20

Hard to describe training lately, which is why I have not written a post in a few weeks. The week after North Fork was always supposed to be a recovery week and a time to enjoy with my family on vacation. However, somewhere along the line I developed a few injuries in my right leg of the nagging variety. Most of them were present before North Fork and none of them bothered me during the race. But we did a ton of walking on vacation (probably 4-6 miles per day) and my right shin and knee really started to bug me. So, I backed off for an additional week in hopes of being prepared for training the end of July, namely on our training camp trip to Leadville. I logged a few miles early this week and then took a few days to rest before we headed up on Friday.

After arriving in Leadville early on Friday, we made a quick call to attempt an afternoon ascent of Mt Massive. We were within a hundred yards of the summit and turned back due to a storm coming right at us. We couldn't see the storm -- until we were near the summit -- because it was on the other side of the mountain. We quickly descended down, but it was too late as the storm was coming fast. Incredibly, it went right around us. We had a nice evening and camped out along Halfmoon creek and got up early do a double crossing of Hope Pass. Chuck wasn't feeling well and we got caught in another rain storm -- this time we hunkered down at treeline to avoid heavy rain, hail, and lightning. And, Tony lost his car keys on the mountain so we had to spend some time getting that situated. It was a long, long day. We got exactly what we wanted out of it, and may have even been slightly faster than I expected, but it was a draining day. We wound up breaking camp Saturday night and heading home, where I did an easy recovery day Sunday.

Early on the North side of Hope Pass, fresh and happy

The view from the summit is always worth seeing

Stumbling up the back after the rain

Arm warmers and cold hands

The sum total of it all was a decent week training. The significant uphill stuff isn't so bad, but I am way out of my grove right now in traditional flat, easy running. That is when my nagging injuries bug me the most and my base fitness feels terrible. I the latter is just my body adjusting to a swift arrival of summer. I hope. Even morning runs are warm and heart rate control is a real struggle. Fortunately, I knew that July was packed with family events and I always expected it to be a struggle to train. That said, it sure hasn't made it an easier to deal with the reality that I have a 100-miler in 2 months and feel off kilter right now. I will be in the mountains for a soccer tournament with my son this weekend, so it could be another up and down training week. After that, the calendar clears up as the kids start preparing for school!

Day	Miles	Notes
Monday	9	Open Space Strength Training
Tuesday	6	Easy
Wednesday	Off	Rest
Thursday	Off	Strength Training
Friday	13	Mt Massive
Saturday	19	Hope Pass Dbl Cross
Sunday	6	Easy
Total	52	About 12,500 feet of vert