Thresholds

November Project Denver −02.26.14 (suicides in the park)

Perhaps it's a Spring thing, but I have dedicated myself to pushing hard in my training plan. I have up'd the mileage some but am also cross training with November Project on Wednesday's. All those that recommended plyometrics can rest assured, they are very much a part of the week now as are a few two-a-days. Add in a level 2 yoga class once a week and I feel sawed in half most of the week. I know I am pushing harder as I look forward to whatever long run I have on Sat just for the ease of a long, slow run. I keep thinking that the training of last year should make some of this easier, but that I suppose is the point of pushing harder. I am biking all the time now as well and purposely take hills as often as is possible. Yesterdays bike accident had me feeling  much more sore than usual and today I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do much on my tempo run. I pulled of my two fastest miles this year. It is fun to push harder and try for more. When I do find out what is enough, I hope to have had a long, exciting road getting there.

Pushing harder is fun. Doing it again is great. Atrophy is terrifying. Today I can.

Humility is Just a Thin Patch of Ice Away

Today began pretty well. Despite some soreness from yesterday's November Project, my easy mile went smooth. The weather had improved and this morning was all but spring like. I had no inhibitions at all about hopping on the bike to ride off to work, even with a heavier than usual bag. One thin film of ice on the slope coming out of my building's parking lot sent me to the ground quick. After dusting myself off and getting the chain hooked back up I headed out to work. The chain suffered some stress somewhere from the fall and snapped off a block from work.

It hurt hitting the ground and I hate waiting till I get home to inspect the damage closer, but all things considered, it wasn't too bad a wipe out. I'm a bit more sore than I was prior to tensing up like that, but it could have easily been worse. As a guy that will ride till it hits zero in the winter, I know there are chances of wipe out. What it did was slap me with some humility in a quick way. As I said, I'll ride in almost anything (run too), and sometimes that makes me a little cocky. I am very cautious on the roads as I trust no one, but my mindset probably needed to come down a notch or two.

With luck, all will be fixed in time to ride tonight. Those are accidents that are not quite so bad.

Beagle Freedom Project Rescue #11

This is who I am trying to run for this May! This is a pretty uplifting clip.

Workin'

There seems to be quite a bit filling the days these days and I am beat every night when I go to bed an hour later than intended. What I don't get is what is taking so much damn time? There is a considerable amount of work happening right now at Dwell and my training program is even more ambitious than last Spring, but I just don't know why time is so short. I also don't see a ton of "finished" items either. There is the occasional remodeled bathroom vanity or completing a 14 miler, but on the whole many of my tasks seem to be maintenance work. It's good to be busy, I just wish I knew where all the time seemed to be going.

The picture is just Maggie being cute…

Pippin

We have a new foster dog, Pippin. He's a Chihuahua and far and away the smallest dog we have fostered. Pippin comes from a puppy mill with some serious trauma in his short past. While Chihuahua's usually strike me as pretty meek, this guy is all sorts of timid. We picked him up on Sat and it has been gratifying to see some progress already. Very slowly, he's coming out of his shell a bit and we are encouraging him to just be a dog. A 4.5 lb. dog, but a dog none the less. While I'd rather run for the organizations or donate in some other way, these fostering gigs have provided me with some pretty cool insights on helping out in a very personal way.

I don't know how long we will have Pippin before his forever home finds him, but it feels good to give this guy a chance to be what he is, a dog. Hell, every breathing creature deserves that.

One of Those Days

It's been one of those great days. It started with clear skies and a wonderful 14mi run through Denver. My extra cross training seems to be paying off as I am not even feeling fatigue on these early long runs. We brought home a new foster dog and he's getting settled. I ripped out part of our bathroom and successfully reinstalled a new vanity. No plumbing disasters. Now I'm walking to VooDoo Doughnuts in a nice snowstorm. It feels so good to have stretched the legs some to come over here. It has been one of those full, great days. 

Gather!

Hey Denver friends! This is a great event with a great chef! As an added perk, it's less expensive than a regular Gather event thanks to Denver Restaurant Week! Come on out and do this!

http://catalog.botanicgardens.org/Selection.aspx?item=1331&sch=43525

Running Check-In

I am now in my 7th week of training for the Colfax Marathon this May. Thus far I have been mixing it up some with some two-a-day's and working in a few November Project workouts. My legs feel good and I am starting to feel form and speed returning. I am also interested in running for a charity once again. The one I would like to run for is called Beagle Freedom Project. They do incredible work but as a small grassroots group, they do not have an established runner for charity program. I am awaiting word on its development, but will figure out some way to raise some money for these folks. It feels good to be running strong and for a good cause again.

We now return...

It's been a month and I am glad to have stepped away for a bit. Training began for my next marathon, work got pretty busy, and most importantly the creative juices were allowed to replenish some. As the year has developed, it's been good to see some strong energy accompanying it. It's exciting and I am pretty jazzed for some upcoming tasks, trips, and over-all goals. Hello 2014. It took a few weeks to get a handle on things, but I'm happy to say you are turning out to be a bit of alright.