AK's writings on running, biking, and other stuff I like to do
17.04.2010
Saturday run, bike, p90x
categories: Road Biking, Running Logs, Trail Runs
tags:

I had great fun working out today.

Here’s how the day went down:

P90X

  • Woke up at 6:30 and did an hour of p90X Kempo.  Basically just punching and kicking the air and doing jumping jacks for an hour.  Not a bad little workout actually.

Bike Ride

  • Then I went for a bike ride on my broken 2 speeder up lookout mountain.  Wasn’t sure how I would fare riding straight up a mountain in my smallest rear cog, but it was FANTASTICO!  I LOVED IT!  I started in Golden with a 2 mile warmup to get to the base of lookout mountain, then I hammered out the 4.5 mile climb in 26:09 – a PR for me by over 2 minutes.  Which was highly encouraging since I have hardly been riding at all this year.  I was out of the saddle for nearly the entire climb just pumping away at an avg Heart Rate of 170.  It was a rush.  Then I kept climbing another mile to the ‘actual’ top of lookout mountain.  The place everyone tracks time is from the towers at the bottom to the post at the lookout overlook, but it actually goes up another mile from there.
  • When I got to the bottom I hadn’t gotten my fill yet, so I rode back up again.  This time my chain was clicking the whole way for some reason, but I still loved it and felt strong.  But I turned around about 3/4 of the way up because I was ready to be done.
  • Total ride:  21.27 Miles – 14.4 MPH avg – HR 146 avg – Ascent/Descent: 3059 FT

Unplanned run…

  • I thought I was done working out for the day after my bike ride.  But when I went outside to install a sprinkler valve, I just couldn’t resist running down to the lake and back really quick….or at least I thought it would be quick. It turned into a 5.5 mile running adventure.
05.04.2010
Foot Diagnosis and a nice ride
category: Road Biking
tags:

Today’s bike stats – 16.91 Miles – 54:07 – 18.7 mph – HR: 134 avg – 920 FT elevation.

Last Friday I had the bright idea that I was going to attempt to ride my bike, in its currently broken state of only two gears (hard, and really hard – since I’m stuck in the smallest 12 tooth cog in the rear)

Well, I wasn’t anticipating a 30-35 mph ice cold headwind coming down the canyon. That rendered the journey nearly impossible, since I was traveling at a max speed of 1-3 mph and nearly falling over every few feet with large trucks zooming past me while trying to stay on the non-existent shoulder. NOT HAPPENING! I made it about .33 miles in 4-5 minutes and turned around. It would have been a gnarly enough climb with just the broken gear, but the headwind was too much.

Anyway, I got a good ride in this morning and felt good.

Then this afternoon I got some great news from my ART/chiropractic/PT therapist. He diagnosed my foot issue as a muscle issue around the cuboid, not a stress fracture. He did some work on it which was painful and felt good (oxymoron?) and told me he wants me to run 5-6 miles tomorrow on it!! And to stay away from asphault and cement for now!! What more could I have asked for?

“Sorry…doctors orders, I have to go trail running in the mountains tomorrow.” BUMMER!!!

Well, I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but I have to admit, they’re up. On today’s ride as I rode up closer and closer to the foothills of the front range, all I could do was stare up at Bear Peak, Green Mountain, South Boulder Peak, and all the other countless peaks and inwardly long to go run to the tops.

So to hear that he had another client who had the exact same symptoms and healed in a week with his treatment, was encouraging to hear.

Keeping my fingers crossed this week, I have another appointment on Thursday and I”m going to go running once or twice in the mean time.

Interestingly, with this pain, it never has hurt when I’ve been running, just walking around.

04.02.2010
We’re clever, but we’re clueless, we’re just humans.
category: Road Biking
tags:

I absolutely love it when this Jack Johnson song “Never Know” comes on when I’m going up a hill either running or cycling.  It makes me feel like I’m floating up the hill…really cool.  Its just so smooth and the beat is perfect for a steady quick cadence.  Today I just repeated this song 3 times because it just felt so dang groooooovey!

It was another nice (cold- 30 degree) sunny morning of cycling.  My legs are feeling stronger every day which I like.

20.06 miles – 1:09:34 – 17.3 mph – HR: 140 – 1229 ft.

Today I didn’t push as hard as I did on Tuesday.  I did the same loop, except with a warmup mile because I forgot my ipod.  I took it at a more enjoyable pace…not too hard, not to easy.  It was fun.  My legs really started to feel warmed up after about 15 miles and I noticed a big difference in power and speed ability up the last 3 hills before home compared to Tuesday.

02.02.2010
The legs are coming back, slowly but surely
category: Road Biking
tags:

It is gorgeous out there this morning.  Really sunny.  But I could definitely go for some warmer temps.  30 degrees isn’t the most optimal cycling weather in my opinion.  My feet were only mildly cold though because I wore wool socks and neoprene boots.

18.69 miles – 1:01:06 – 18.4 mph – HR: 149 – Ascent/descent: 1033 ft.

I really enjoyed the ride this morning.  But I have to admit I’m itching to get out and run again.  I’m still on a high from running fast in the fives on friday and feeling fantastic.

Yesterday morning I went cycling also – a short ride, 12.17 miles – 42:34 – 17.2mph – HR: 117 – 528 ft.

I’m taking most of this week off running in order to give my ankle the opportunity to recover fully.  It doesn’t hurt at all anymore, but I’d rather just give it plenty of time.


21.01.2010
My right ankle is a bit stiff
category: Road Biking
tags:

I ran for 1/4 mile and decided to turn around because my ankle wasn’t feeling that great and I would rather give it a rest rather than pushing through pain and prolonging whatever the issue is.

I’m pretty sure it got tweaked from running in the new balance shoes on Saturday.  But not just running in the shoes, pushing a hard pace for 3 miles, in shoes, which I was unaccustomed to, which were new, which were too tight on my forefoot, at the end of a 2.5 hour run.  That was probably a stupid thing to do.  Oh well, its done.  I’m sure it will heal if I let it.  So in the meantime I’m going to bike more.  That doesn’t bother my ankle.

I went for a quick bike ride to get a small workout in.  It felt good.

10.04 Miles – Time: 30:59 – pace: 19.4 mph avg – HR: 143 avg

18.01.2010
Time to start cycling again
category: Road Biking
tags:

Now that the snow has subsided, I’m going to start rotating cycling and running every other day.  I may do both some days if time permits.

I want to be in good biking and running shape before spring and summer arrive so I can maximize my enjoyment of the mountains in the summer months.  The way I see it is the better shape I am in, the more terrain I can cover, and thus the more I can maximize the fun.

But right now, my biking legs basically don’t exist.  That’s ok though.  It feels great to get out, and I’ll get them back with a few weeks of consistency.

Here are the stats for today:

15 Miles – 55 minutes – 16.6 mph – HR – 113 (wow…I was hardly moving, my legs felt weak) – Elevation change: 800 Ft.

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