Outlook Is Good

Well, I have finally seen the official race results from the Wildlife Trail Classic on Saturday. The times weren't excactly impressive due to the sloppy/muddy conditions, but I put together a decent effort. I was 45 seconds off my goal time I set for the day, but I'm not terribly disapointed with it with the conditions. I haven't actually seen the medal, but I'm told I took 3rd in my age group. If so, that's the first running medal I've ever received. I left to do some trail work at Jubilee and the thought never crossed my mind I would medal. Why would it?! I've never really been that close so I just never bothered.

I think I've set myself up for a decent race this Saturday at the Run to Remember. I wish I'd have gotten something in today, but the weather has been hit or miss all day. I really wanted to get a ride in, but wasnt willing to risk getting caught in these fast moving storms we've had. Instead, I'm going back out to Jubilee to work on a couple bridges. I'll have another smart week with training and rest and keep close tabs on my diet and hydration. Unfortunately, I didnt get a pre-race weight but I'm hoping to be at 203 lbs or so for Saturday.

Race Ready?......We'll Find Out Soon

Wildlife Trail Classic is on Saturday. Unfortunately (more) rain may make the course on the sloppy side. I think I'm going to opt for the trail shoes to be on the safe side. It should tell me at least a little about what kind of shape I'm in and tell me what I need to do for the Run to Remember next weekend. I'm not setting any numeric goals, just want to race smart and feel strong. Times will take care of themselves.

Normally I would have taken Thursday off before a race, but I really wanted to get some saddle time in. I chose to get a 20 miler in today around home. I probably went a little hard early and attacked some hills I shouldnt have, but what's the point of being on it if you aint gonna ride it?

Those dark clouds would prove to be the real deal later in the Evening


After my ride I enjoyed a recovery shake while wacthing the backyard critters. Always enjoyable and relaxing for me. I caught a glimpse of the proud new family the other day. Today they paid the feeding tree a visit.


There was somebody not to glad to see them, however. Mr. Squirell was trying to have some feeding frenzy time all to himself. Unfortunately, Papa Goose wasn't to keen on having any dinner guests.


After a bit, the family moved on and the squirell was able to have some privacy before he was ran off by 6 more adult geese not interested in waiting their turn or sharing.

So Friday get a nice quick pre-race tempo run in and swing into town to pick up my race packet. Then it's back home to get my gear ready to go for Saturday. Looks like promising weather with some wind.

Light at the End of the Aiport Tunnel

As I'm writing this, I have 7 more full working nights at the airport...assuming I make it through tonight. I'm in desperate need of my weekend when I get off. 12 nights in a row and all but one out here. I suppose the check will look good though.

I've had a pretty decent few days training. Wednesday I put together my longest run of the year thus far, a nice 10.5 miler. I was pretty beat up following the run so I used Thursday as an active recovery day and just walked to loosen up. I spent Friday morning on the treadmill doing some 90 sec. intervals working on speed. Not a bad workout actually. I was pretty spent. My goal for the week was to balance my training and resting since I was feeling slightly less than good. I knew I had some races coming up and with me feeling sub par and working some extra hours I wanted/needed to be smart. I was feeling a little better on Friday evening so on Saturday I took advantage of the weather and got my 1st mtb ride in a long time. All in all, not too bad. I definitely need to spend some more time on the bike though on trails. It didnt take long to start getting my feel back. I had to laugh at myself a few times though as I recognized many mistakes as I made them. Eventually I quit evaluating and just rode.

Post Ride


I will probably just sleep today for as long as I can. When I get up I'll stick to an easy run more than likely. A hard effort on the bike sounds great, but I'm not going to risk being full blown sick all week. I think I'll focus on rest, refueling, and recovery the next couple days. Come Wednesday I'll start getting the engine ready to run for Saturday at the CITRA race.

Under the Weather

In both regards actually. We got another dumping of rain the last day or so. The trails are going to take some time to dry out. Anything I had scheduled as trail this week will be have to be altered some. Too bad, I was really hoping to get some trail time on the bike and running this week. As far as the stampede....its gonna be a no go for me. Too much going against me right now. I'm not 100% health wise right now and working my weekend so a balancing act of training and rest is big. I dont need the added pressure of making the drive after work to compete in a race I'm not prepared for. I have scheduled races starting next week so probably better I get myself ready for those. Monday and Tuesday both gonna be off days while I strictly rest and refuel to get healthy and fresh for the weeks ahead. Run to Remember is coming up and what I do now will have an impact.

Im def going to keep the Training Peaks subscription. I really like planning the workouts then plugging in the HRM info to look at later. I've found out how to include all my shoes and bikes on the program too which is cool. It's proving to be a pretty useful tool for me. Now, if I'd just get some work done all would be good with the world.

To Race or Not to Race

That is indeed the question. The Sylvan Island Stampede is just over a week away and I still dont know if I'm doing it or not. I dont really need to make a hard decision until next week, but I for sure need to be thinking about it. If I could just get one or two trail rides in I'd be more confident in it, but with crazy April weather, who knows if that will happen or not. Sounds like something I should think about tomorrow hopefully getting some road miles in.

The last few days have been bad ones by all accounts. I've been pretty lazy about getting any work in. I have to stop and ask myself how bad I want it. I need to do some soul searching the next few days and find myself. One sure way to get through this airport tour is through focussed and dedicated training. I need to remember that and get after it. SIS or not, the Wildlife Trail Classic is coming up and then it looks like plenty of races after that on the calendar. This is a critical point in my training. I need to not only get through it, but make strides during this period. My mental toughness will either improve or leave me hangin when my races start. Wow, I feel better already. That's what I love about this thing.

I've included a new link in my People section. It's the blog for David Goggins. If you dont know him, check it out. He's a hero of mine and it won't take long for you to realize why and I'm sure he'll be a hero of yours too.

The Weather and My 'Tude

Both suck. This time of year is painful with a nice outdoor day, then crap and snow. It eats me up. Then I get to come work at the airport which just makes it worse. Anyway, no workouts yesterday or Today due to OT. I did get a nice interval session in on Friday which was nice. Calling for snow on Monday so I'm guessing my ride will be inside if I can bear another trainer session (the thought makes me cringe). Hoping that by Wednesday I can sneak outside for some miles on the bike. The Run to Remember is com ing up soon. That is really keeping me motivated right now. As far as the Stampede goes, no decision made yet. I would love to at least ride the new bike on a trail before I jump into a race for the first time in 4-5 years. I need to be deciding though, huh?

I am still digging the new HRM and Trainingpeaks.com. I have found it to be very useful and fun to tinker with. Anyway, that was my short rant for the day. I'll get over it eventually.....like May 1st perhaps!!

Month of Hell

It's no April Fool's joke..my month at the airport started tonight. I'm trying my best to settle in, but it's hard. Knowing that I have a month of this makes it difficult to be very upbeat. I look at it this way though, I can really crank my training up this month and get familiar with the new HRM.

Speaking of which, I put to work for the first time today. I did a 9 mile run on a country road near the house. The Timex worked well. I was concerned with some crazy numbers at first, but it seemed to settle in quickly and worked great after that. I was able to download it easy and then plug it ino my training peaks account and look at the data which was pretty cool. I got the upgraded training peaks account for this month and will make a decision on whether to keep it or not later. So far, so good though.

Here are a couple pics from Monday night's ride.


This is the last I would see of these guys before the sprint to the finish


Getting my game face on for the sprint