On a bit of a roll

You never will get where you’re going if you never get up on your feet. ~ Jules Bass

Sun: 3:45, 22.75 miles, North Boulder LSD
Tues: 00:55, 6.15 miles, Treadmill surges

You have to love the satisfaction that comes with having an amazing run. Sunday was all about satisfaction as I logged the most distance and the best relative effort since I ran the Las Vegas Marathon back in December 08. Seriously, an awesome run on the roads between Boulder and Longmont.

The day started poorly with my sleeping through my alarm. So my pre-run prep was less awesome than I had hoped it would be. I got all the critters fed, grabbed a PB&J and bolted for Boulder to meet up with the group at the Cottonwood Trailhead. Temps had risen markedly since last week’s freeze-a-thon and I started in shorts, a Cap3 Patagonia Longsleeve and a wind vest (which was quickly shed as Chinooks blew in from the southwest). We warmed up at a very leisurely pace on snowpacked and icy trails then moved to surface streets and on to the hardpacked dirt roads around the Res.

The group thinned as we made our way north then back east to hook up with pavement again on 63rd street. This is where we parted ways for good with just Rebecca and I heading north for the remainder of the day’s adventure.

I felt super relaxed and just settled in for what turned out to be a very consistently paced run. Rebecca and I logged sub-10s pretty much all day and worked our way north, eventually turning back east on St. Vrain then hooking back up with 65th. By this point, the wind had picked up significantly and worked to push us back up to Wyoming but I was feeling great and kept up the pace to finish strongly at a solid 9:56 pace and average heartrate of 144 (that’s pretty low for a Stu). That translates to about a 4:24 marathon pace. Not too shabby for a very low effort kind of a day.

And I eclipsed 50-miles for the week (6 was skate skiing), which is kind of a happy milestone to reach this early (or late, as the case may be) in the season. So I am hoping to finish the year strongly and am really looking forward to what lies ahead in 2010.

One thing I recognized as I ran into the increasing winds is that running in the wind is a lot less frustrating than riding in the wind. It is probably due to the relatively low speeds one travels while running and what the loss of 20% (for example) feels like vs. losing that same 20% of one’s calm-day speed on a bike. Big difference.

And today I hit the gym because the warmer temps have turned our roads to slush and I wanted to add some upper body weights to the mix. Did a 30-minute warm up (10:00 pace) then did 10, 1×1 surges and a 5-minute cool-down. Ended up with 6.15 miles in 55 minutes. Generally felt pretty relaxed. Maybe a bit fatigued from Sunday but not too shabby. Then I hit the weights and jammed back home to get some work done. A good start to what I hope will be another great week.