Chasing My Joy

My journey to becoming an Ultra Runner and Ironman

Archives for July 2014

50k Ultramarathon Training – Week 4

Whew this last week was a great training week  but the increase in miles did make Sunday’s run feel long and challenging. It probably didn’t help that I had a LONG busy day at work on Saturday but that just means that it’s great ultra training….right?

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Monday: Easy 2 mile jog with my pup
Tuesday:  7 mile trail run at Bear Creek Lake Park
Wednesday: 5.2 mile run around the neighborhood.
Thursday: 5.9 mile run with mile repeats
Friday: 10 mile trail run at Teller farms in Boulder
Saturday: 2 mile easy shake out run
Sunday: 18 mile trail run from Roxborough State Park to Colorado Trail CT2

Total miles ran or hiked: 50.5 miles
Total hours training: 13:51

This week was a jump in miles from the past few. I did put in a 50 mile week last year in preparation for Ironman Lake Tahoe but that was mainly because I had two long runs in one week (one pushed to Monday from the previous week). While my legs are heavy and tired I feel like I am recovering more quickly and feeling ready to run again each morning. It was a hot week so I am looking forward to a cooler week this week.

Running in Leadville

It’s been a long time coming but I wanted to share my adventures in Leadville from last month. In June Cory and I decided we wanted to get out of town for the weekend and hit some trails.

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We found a cabin in Twin Lakes (right outside of Leadville) where we could stay and easily hit up some fantastic trails. We left Denver on Friday and drove the two and a half hours to Twin Lakes. We were very excited by how beautiful and quiet the area was. After unpacking a little we jogged up the road until we hit the Colorado Trail for a few miles before heading back to our cabin for dinner, much needed ice cream and bed.

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Even though the temperature was very comfortable in the low 70s it felt MUCH hotter, something to note when running in the high country.

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On Saturday morning we drove into Leadville where we found a great coffee shop for breakfast before wandering into the Leadville Race headquarters where we got a map of the Leadville 100 Trail Race to find trails. We decided that it would be fun to climb up to Hope Pass (Rising above 12,400 ft).

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After talking to some locals we were convinced it was best to climb up the south side with less snow (good advice). By the time we got out to the trail head it was later than we had hoped so the plan was to hike to the top then jog down. Sections were so steep it was hard moving in either direction and oxygen is really in short supply at this elevation. But the views were worth it.

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The one not so fun part of the trip was the slippery trail. Towards the bottom of the trail there are leaves still decaying from the fall that are slick as ice. I was fine on the way up but on the way down I slipped and landed hard on both elbows. Luckily it wasn’t a leg so I was able to get myself off the mountain but had some pretty bad bruising on both arms.

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I must learn to stay upright on trails! The plan had been to run again on Sunday but after staying up much of the night with a sick pup we scrapped the run in favor for sleeping in a little then driving out around turquoise lake and heading home. We both really loved Leadville, Twin Lakes and the surrounding trails, we can’t wait to get back up and explore some more of the area.

50k Ultramarathon Training – Week 3

As I have started week 4 of my 16 week ultra-marathon training plan I thought I would share my plan and how it’s going so far.

50k Ultramarathon Training – Week 3

This was a bit of a step back week. After my race on Sunday I was feeling a twinge in my hamstring so I took it fairly easy during the week. My weekend miles were also a little short because of race spectating, all worth it. Here is how week 3 went down:

Monday: Easy 1 mile walk/jog with my puppies

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Tuesday:  Short 3.6 mile run around the neighborhood
Wednesday: 4 mile run with repeats
Thursday: 5.25 mile Hilly run
Friday: 2.18 easy shake out run
Saturday: 16.6 mile trail run Devil’s thumb – King’s loop

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Sunday: Easy two miles // 0.5 mile swim race

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Total miles ran or hiked: 35.24 miles
Total hours training: 13:19

Sunday was supposed to have 8 mile medium run to back up to Saturdays 16 miles. Instead I raced the swim portion of a triathlon for my dad then cheered while he completed the bike and run portion and my mom did the full tri. They both did great on a tough course at over 11,000 ft elevation. After driving back from Steam Boat and picking up the pups there was no time for a longer run.

Overall it’s an adjustment to running every day, now the challenge is to build in strength training (week 4 I swear!) and then bring back cross training. I do miss my bike and the pool.

Quick recap of the first two weeks:

50k Ultramarathon Training – Week 1

Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday:  4.76 miles with mile repeats
Wednesday: 2 mile run with the pug
Thursday: 6 mile neighborhood loop
Friday: 1 mile run/walk with Bailey
Saturday: 6 mile trail run at Dowdy Draw
Sunday: 10 mile trail run at Sourdough Trail + one twisted ankleIMG_1682

Total miles ran or hiked: 30.1 miles
Total hours training: 7:40

50k Ultramarathon Training – Week 2

Monday: Easy 1 mile walk/jog with my puppies
Tuesday:  4.1 mile run with mile repeats
Wednesday: 6.24 mile neighborhood loop
Thursday: 4.14 easy jog
Friday: 1.43 walk with the pups
Saturday: 1 mile shake out jog
Sunday: 13(ish) mile Copper Mountain Trail Half Marathon

Total miles ran or hiked: 31.02 miles
Total hours training: 7:15

Becoming a “real” Runner

I don’t want to imply that triathletes are not “real” runners, I just don’t want to call it just running.

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Ever since I got the wild hair to sign up for a half marathon in 2010 I was training for triathlons as well. I think the most I ever ran was four times a week and usually at least one of those was a short t-run.

So transforming myself into a runner has been an interesting journey. Running 6 days a week is blissfully simple but also exciting because it feels good to focus on getting better at one thing instead of generally sucking at three sports. Although I am starting to miss the pool and my bike so I think some cross training  will be back on the calendar soon.

I am very excited about how my trail half marathon at Copper Mountain went and can’t wait to see what training for a 50k entails. Training reports to comes.

Copper Mountain Trail Half Marathon

Cory and I ran the Copper Mountain Trail Half Marathon on Sunday as part of the Colorado Running Festival. Overall I had a great time


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This course is fairly technical and hilly, I wouldn’t recommend it to newer trail runners.

Of note:

  • Length – 13(ish) miles in true trail race fashion the mile markers were more suggestive than accurate and with the tree cover my garmin was unsure as well
  • Elevation – this race starts at 9,200 ft and climbs to over 10,000 ft this is not kind to low lander
  • Course – this is a double loop (bow-tie) course. The first is a true loop nothing crazy here but the second loop is an out and back on true (2 ft wide) single track. So on my way out I was jumping out of the way of all the speedy runners, including Cory) on their way down.  Copper Map
  • Hills – The race site said 2400’ of vertical gain, my garmin said about 3200’ either way there is basically no flat sections.Copper half Elevation
  • Hydration – There were 3 aid stations along the course, but the portion along the Colorado Trail just couldn’t support one. This section was a little over three miles so not too long but something to think about on hot days.

All that adds up to this not being a PR course, it is the most beautiful race I have ever run and all the racers are so kind and friendly.

I don’t have any photos of the race since I didn’t think to bring my camera with me, in the future it will be worth it to finish a couple minutes slower in order to capture the scenery. Overall it was a good race, fairly small and held in a cute little mountain village. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to run trails, breathe little to no oxygen, and participate in a no frills race. 

It felt really good to get back out and race after a little hiatus, I am starting to feel like a ‘real’ runner.

#LikeAGirl

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Hope you like it too!

Transitions

There are many transitions in life, for me accepting transitions can be more difficult than the actual transition. This year has been full of transitions some that started out bad but ended up good; many months of unemployment for my hubby that led to a great new job, A nightmare selling process of our home that led to getting our dream house that we love, etc.

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The last transition is still in the slightly painful place for me. The short story is that racing an Ironman is not in the cards for me this year. With four moves and a fairly debilitating medical issue that knocked me down for over a month I had to accept that training for IM Canada just wasn’t happening. I can only hope that it leads to something better in the end.

The good news is that I am now fully recovered from my medical issue but missing about six weeks of training so close to the race just wasn’t going to cut it. As a was trying to recover I got a terrible stomach flu, and I was a ball of stress worrying about the training I was missing, knowing that Canada was slipping through my fingers. Now I could have transferred to a later Ironman, Tahoe is still open and Maine was newly announced but I wasn’t excited about either. At that point I didn’t have the heart to keep trying and just wanted to focus on getting well. So I let my third straight year of Ironman racing go.

At first I will admit it was a relief to not stress about training that I was missing but with some distance I am starting to miss it. But with letting Ironman for this year go, I have started to dream about different (maybe bigger) challenges.

When getting back into “training” I was craving simplicity, especially with a lot of traveling coming up. So I have been focusing on running and trying to increase my milage. Following my heart, most of my miles have been on trails.

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While I miss triathlon training and racing, I am loving the focus on running and especially trail running. I am also ready to start racing again so I will start with a trail half marathon at Copper Mountain, leading up to a couple marathons and a 50k in October.

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We’ll see how this summer/fall goes assuming everything goes well I will be chasing some bigger goals on the trails. While I do miss Ironman, I WILL be back just not this year. I will admit it’s pretty fun to chase some new dreams.

Colo trail

Has life ever gotten in the way of your plans?