Tuesday Tempo Run BTR - 5.39 Miles

Dragged myself out for another Tuesday Tempo Run this week. Definitely a struggle as I have been hobbling around now since my mountain jaunt on Father's Day. It seems my legs are still not quite used to the big ups and more likely the downs of mountain running around here. Every part of my quads has been screeming at me to sit down and stop moving. So, getting out today was a small victory over couch. Regardless of this new pain, I am certainly reveling in shedding the boredom of long road miles and fast tempos for the fun of the trails.

Tonight we did a nice loop around the Mesa Trails starting at the South Boulder Trailhead on the way to Eldorado Canyon. The chosen route was to "warm-up" by running strait up Mesa to the Big BlueStem Trailhead. This "warm-up" encompassed about 400 feet of climbing over a little over a mile and a quarter. Fortinately we were running slow enough that my HR averaged about 164...hardly a real warm-up but certainly easier than what was to come. So after a break of a few minutes of chatter we were off straight up Mesa heading for the cut-off by the Miner's Cabin. This was a total of 864 feet of climbing over about 1.59 miles for an average grade of about 11+%. Not bad actually as I was able to maintain an average pace of about 10:23 with just a few small walking breaks at the steeper parts. My HR average about 173 for the climb which put me solidly in the tempo realm, certainly not slacking on effort. But alas, as has been usual on these runs, I was well behind the other 4 runners in front of me. These Tuesday runs are definitely pushing me to get better for sure but I definitely have a long way to go.

Easy 5-6 on the roads tomorrow.

Last few runs update

Been meaning to update lately, just have not had the time.


Did the Tuesday Tempo Run tonight with the Boulder Trail Runners. Great fun on the Shanahan Loop. We did the short one for about 3.56 miles or so. I think I was still a bit tired from my Sunday Run. Did the loop in 31:00 at an average pace of 8:42 overall with 1389 of climbing (probably about 800 or so of verticle gain). Not bad. Shins were tight on the descent...need to shorten the stride more and keep the toes down. Probably will run with this next week as well. Cascadias were again excellent, great grip, feel relatively light with nice trail feel.











Did an easy recovery run before work yesterday for just under 5. Really worked on the form concentrating on a forefoot/mid-foot stride. Definitely tight with a slightly elevated HR, but smooth overall.



Sunday AM did a full Flagstaff TT from Gregory to the Leaving sign. I am feeling really good about this workout mostly because I finally got one in the bag and that I was able to run most of it to just past the firestation. As I feared, I tired when it got steep and took a few breaks. Overall did the run in 52:08 for 4.56 miles and about 2129 ft of climbing according to the Garmin. I definitely feel I could knock about 2-3 minutes off of this fairly easily in the next few weeks as I eliminate more and more of the walking. Splits as follows:


1: 10:19
2: 9:51
3: 10:13
4: 14:19
5: 13:14


On the way down I ran the road till it intersected with the Flatstaff Trail. Hopped into the trail to get a little footwork practice in and to eliminate some of the road pounding. The trail saves about a mile off of the distance, but it was a heck of a lot more fun.






Looking forwarding to doing this monthly or more to track progress. Will be adding in some Green, Bear and So Bo Peak in the next month or so. Loving being out on the trails and/or hills. Running the trails is so much more enjoyable for me this days. Feel reinvigorated for sure.


I need to sign up for the Eldora 10K and the Golden Gate Trail Run as these will be my next few races. Will see if something else comes up between now and then.