Monday, April 9, 2012

Week of April 1, back at it

So, now that the 2012 edition of the Buffalo Run is over, time to get back with the training and writing down useless drivel for people to read when they have nothing better to do.
The Buffalo Run went really well I thought.  Much better than last year's edition.  There were roughly the same number of runners, although it was distributed a little differently.  Roughly 710 showed up to run one of the four distances available.
This year I had the luxury of having the McKay-Dee Hospital Sports Medicine Team as my medical providers.  There were doctors, nurses, sports trainers all in attendance.  And they even had a crew out for Friday night while the 100 mile runners were running.  It was also the warmest Buffalo Run ever.  Major heat was the order of the day Saturday with temps hitting the mid 70's and sunny.  We went thru about 150 more gallons of water than I thought we would, as well as about 250 lbs. of ice.  There was plenty of buffalo stew for everyone and once again there were no leftovers.  Once again, I was cleaned out of beer.  That's a good thing.  At least I got to have a couple of them.
Glitches?  Yeah, there were a few that will need addressing for next year.  The main one was the lack of enough people at the main gate for check in.  At times the line got pretty long from what I understand.  More people there and better organized for next year.  The other little glitch was that a few people had a hard time finding drop bags.  We got them back in time for the most part, but people had a hard time figuring out where they were.  Next year I think we'll have a central roped off bag corral, attended by a volunteer.  Good things?  I rented a 40 x 60 canopy and it was worth every penny spent.  It was awesome and beat the crap out of setting up my own canopies.  Not sure I'm ever going to do that again.  We had a new location for the start/finish.  It meant an uphill finish for everyone, but it also meant we had much more room and didn't interfere with the day use folks. 
So, on to the resumption of training.  I did take the entire week of the race off.  I had plans to run, but couldn't justify taking the time to so it when there's so much to do.  Plus I didn't want to be up until midnight every night dealing with race stuff.  I did run last week, but it was pretty sad.  I caught a cold and it generally sucked.  So I'll just start again with this week.  I have two weeks left before I need to taper for Salt Flats.  The plan is to hit it hard these two weeks, then start to rest and recover.  We'll see how that goes.

Sunday - Had big plans to run 30 or so with Britta on the Bo Sho course.  A driving snowstorm put an end to that after about 10 miles.  We were all soaked and cold.  Yeah, it sucked.  Miles - 10.3

Monday - Just a one workout day.  Ran Indian Trail from Rainbow with Breein and Shawn.  Got a little cool as most of it is in the shade.  Good news is, no snow.  Generally took it easy but this run still gives you 3200'+ of vert in just under 10 miles, so my legs felt it.  Miles - 9.84

Tuesday - Double workout day.  My lunch run was a six mile tempo run on the bike path.  Most of it was a sub 8 pace.  The afternoon run was a nice and easy run with my lovely wife.  We went about five miles going north from Rainbow.  Saw some of the crew heading out as we were finishing.  Tonight I also went to my first Pilates class.  It was a men's class and it was tough.  Who knew I was that unbalanced (not mentally, everyone already knows that).  I survived and I'm actually going to do it again.  It'll be nice to develop some upper body strength and better balance.  Miles - 11.17

Wednesday - Now I'm really felling the aftereffects of the Pilates class.  My upper body is sore, not terribly so, but noticeable.  Went out for what I thought would be an easy 8 or 9 miles.  At the turn I met up with Breein's husband Jared and a friend.  I followed along behind and they worked me as I tried to keep up.   Ended up falling further and further behind, but got a good hard run in anyway.  Miles - 11.7

Thursday - Another double day.  The lunch run was an easy 5.2.  My legs are pretty tired from hitting the training hard.  Need to keep it up though.  After work I met with the crew and we made the trip from 22nd street up Malan's Peak.  I was surprised at how much snow was still on the trail.  Made for some slippery conditions as I wore my Quantums and the traction in those things suck unless the trail is dry.  It was a little chilly as well.  Miles - 10.9

Friday - Woke up to it snowing outside.  By the time I got done feeding critters and heading to work, there was almost an inch on the ground.  I need to put in a few miles today just to get the mileage up for the week.  Was planning on heading out at lunch, but decided against it.  Then, after work I called my lovely wife and asked if she wanted to go out for a run after work.  Sure, so we went to Rainbow andheaded north on the trail.  When we got up to the canal road we looked at each other and decided it just wasn't happening today.  We did manage to get a couple of miles in, but then headed out for dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant.  That was a much better idea.  Miles 2.0

Saturday - Went to Smokey Bear (Indian Trail trailhead) with Britta to go out for around 20 miles.  The plan was to run from Smokey Bear, over Indian Trail, on to the BST, and down to Beus Canyon, then turn around.  The day was gorgeous.  We met the HUMR crew as they were coming down to Smokey Bear.  They were doing a Rainbow, Smokey Bear, Malans trip.  Well, not thinking about the previous day's snow, I wore my Quantums.  Wrong choice for this run.  Indian Trail was treacherous going out and very treacherous coming back.  I couldn't get any traction at all on the snow.  I must have gone down at least 6-8 times just on the way back over Indian.  There were times when Britta had to basically push me up the trail.  I felt like an idiot.  Other than that, it was a great run.  Got my miles in and all was right with the world.  Miles - 19.0

I got in the miles I wanted for the week.  I was looking for 70-80 and I managed.  If I can get that next week, then I figure I'll be pretty well set for Salt Flats.  Grand Canyon is next Saturday.  Weather right now is looking kind of cool and possibly wet.  That would be a change from previous years.  Still, I'm looking forward to it.

Miles for the week -  74.91

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