Prepping for Ultra Numero Uno

After a cozy break post IM and upon reading Born to Run I found myself with an inkling to run my first ultra. To spice up the off-season and see what the "dark side" is all about I will be throwing myself into the mix at the High Desert 50k next weekend. Okay, so it's a mini-ultra, only 5 miles beyond the marathon distance. I trusted source and friend encouraged me to check it out as it is very runner-friendly for one's first ultra being held on the forgiving terrain of the Mojave Desert. I am officially a desert rat as my friend told me upon delivering his high desert bandana as he won't be making the trek out to California this year. So I was expecting just one of those regular blue, black or red gansta-style bandanas. This one is race-specific with the course map on it just in case I get lost! It promises to be a fun experience topped with a speaking engagement for the local youth...what a blessing!

While I haven't been churning out any big miles, the race prep has included long runs of 1:30, 2:00 and just yesterday a cushy 3:05 mostly on trails. That was on the backside of burning my lungs at the Turley's Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. I haven't touched my tt bike since IM aside from moving it so I could get to my mountain bike. It's been a hoot tooling around on the dirt roads and trails on the mountain bike and dusting off the road bike for the weekly Saturday Breakfast Ride out of Adrenaline.

Best wishes to mi amigos racing IMCozumel tomorrow!

Keep it smooth...
Brad

Slippin' n Slidin'

splendid afternoon for a snowy/muddy ride on the trails near home

Keep it smooth...

Brad

Fall Freedom

Since the early dumping of snow two weeks ago the weather has been nothing but stellar! I relish this time of year as it allows my mind & body to recover while enjoying the trails around Boulder. I am a big fan of having a period of unstructured or very loosely strucutred training as a pre-cursor to early season base training. After taking about 2.5 weeks completely off from activity after IM Coach Z has encouraged me to stay active while enjoying some freedom from the power meter, tt bike, swim clock, Garmin, etc. It's been a blast to get out on my mountain bike and hit up the trails for some fun rides & runs with friends. I am a really BAD mountain biker so the time on the trails is great for my handling & pedaling skills. So far I've managed to keep it upright...damn maybe I shouldn't have written that...During this phase I like to take a break from the masters scene...not that I don't like those people or the entertainment Dave Scott can provide, but it's good to slow things the hell down and work on my aquatically-challenged swim form. Did I mention how sweet the weather has been!?! I'll throw in some hikes before the serious snow arrives and then spice up the training with skate skiing & snowshoeing.

Hope you are making the time to enjoy life with family & friends. Get your bum outdoors and explore some roads and trails you typically pay no attention to while hammering through a set of intervals...c'mon you know you want to!

Keep it smooth...
Brad