15 myles - 2.17:20

Bluffs/Wildcat Ridge - 11 AM

15 degrees, partly cloudy, cold snow

mind/body - good

easy effort

Even though the effort was easy, slipping on the snow was torquing my lower back. Going uphill it was tough to gain any traction so it was two steps up, one step back. I intended on doing the full HR tour (Bluffs, Wildcat Ridge, Backcountry) but because the back was tweaking I decided 2+ hours was enough. Now Wildcat Ridge is closed till March 25th so I'll have to find somewhere else to go. Plenty of other places, just have to drive to them.

2011 is going to be an exciting year, albeit busy. I just got a promotion in my job so I'll be traveling a little bit more, unfortunately not to any mountain states, more like Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Nothing wrong with those states and I'm sure they have some hills but it's not the Rocky Mountains. Having said that, I'm going to start posting my training once a week on Sundays. I'll still be logging my workouts over here on a daily basis so if you want to find out what I'm doing day in and day out, you still can. And then I'll still be blogging about other things as well.

New Years resolutions. Every year I've had a New Years resolution that centers around food and nutrition (no fried foods, no meat, etc..) this year is no different but not as hard and fast as previous years. This year my family has committed to eating healthier. Meaning we are going to eat more whole foods like fruits, veggies, and grains. And eat less processed foods such as refined sugars and carbohydrates. I know it's kind of vague but the idea is to think about what we are eating and how it was made. When given a choice between a veggie tray and chips and dip we will choose the veggie tray when in the past 9 times out of 10 it's been the chips. I guess you can say the book "In Defense of Food" has had an effect on me. In addition, one that my son Jaxon came up with to help the environment is to stop buying and drinking bottled water.

11 myles - 1.39:07

Wildcat Ridge - 11 AM

below 10 degrees, 5" snow, socked in

mind/body - peaceful/good

easy effort

Wasn't worried about anything but getting through the snow this morning. HR, pace, effort - didn't matter. For some reason it's always much more peaceful after a snowfall, regardless of the temperatures. I know I was working hard but my HR only maxed out at 160, probably due to all the slipping I was doing on the cold snow.

So for 2010 I logged 3117.37 myles, second most in a calendar year for me. That comes out to just over 8.5 myles a day. But considering I didn't run 114 days, I averaged 12.4 myles/run over 251 days. Last year I logged 3288 (most) only because of the 500 mile trek to Durango in September. Since 2004, when I started running ultras, I've logged 18,367 myles. I have no idea how many myles before that but considering I ran my first marathon at age 11 it's probably near 30,000 for a lifetime, if not a little more. Pale in comparison to some but that's no matter. What matters is that I'm healthy, still be able to run, and enjoy it.

11 myles - 1.19:50

Wildcat Ridge - noon
50s, clear, dry
mind/body - good/tight hammys
easy effort

This new GPS Global Trainer is helping me map out all my local runs and giving me a good base for time. It'll be interesting to see what happens (as far as accuracy) when I get to the foothills and trees. So far really accurate compared to MapMyRun. Just about 1000 ft of climbing and a 7:18 pace while keeping the HR to an average of 159.

Signed up for the draw for UTMB today. Nick and I are planning on doing Sierre-Zinal on August 14th as well. Perfect timing to blow out the carbon, get acclimated, then tour the UTMB course for a week. All while vacationing with the family in Europe for the first time ever.

22 myles - 2.41:25

Wildcat Ridge - 2 PM

30s, clear, a little windy

mind/body - good

easy effort

Last run before the snipity-snip so I made 4 loops of this course - 40:33, 40:38, 40:24, 39:48. Initially I thought I'd make this my very own Fat Ass 50K (since I'm going to miss El Chubbo Grande) but just ran out of time and energy. Felt decent with a 7:20 pace and relatively flat with only 800 ft of climbing.

The pamphlet for the procedure said only 5 days away from exercise but the doc says two weeks. Maybe better to adhere to the doc and in the meantime become easily agitated and gain 20 pounds. Better watch what I eat.

11 myles - 1.17:53

Wildcat Ridge - 9:00 AM

20s, cloudy, still dry

mind/body - very good

easy effort

NEWS FLASH: Scheduled my vasectomy for December 1st @ 11:30 AM - yikes! But gotta git'er done sooner than later.

Not much exciting happening on the running front, just getting out moving the blood around. I got out Monday for 6 (7:15s) and today for 11 (7:14s) - body feels good, mind seems refreshed, and the pace seems easy. But I need to be careful not to jump into the training regimen too quickly. Grae Van Hooser left a comment that serves as a good reminder - It's a long year and with the races I have coming up I would be better suited taking it easy in the winter. I stated this right before MMTR but how quickly I forget. Speaking of schedules, Pearl Izumi announced the races they would like us to participate in for 2011:

• Way Too Cool 50K - March 12
• Chuckanut 50K - March 19
• American River 50m - April 9
• Miwok 100k - May 7
• Massanutten 100 - May 14
• San Juan Solstice 50m - June 18
• Western States 100 - June 25
• Hard Rock 100 - July 8
• Vermont 100 - July 16
• White River 50m - July 30
• UTMB - August 26
• JFK 50m - November 20
• TNF 50m - December 6

Certainly I can't do all of them but I will base my 2011 season around these races. In particular, the two races I am focusing on are Western States and UTMB (lottery). Outside of that I will use the other races to put me in the best condition to perform at the focus events. Because of this directive you can bet there will be a heavy presence of Pearl Izumi athletes and execs. at these events. On the down side, they decided not to do a PI race series because time was short. I won't promise a series in the future but I think we got the ball rolling for something in 2012.

11 myles - 1.14:20

Wildcat Ridge - 8:00 AM

40s, still windy, dry

mind/body - better but still weak

Hard effort

I'm feeling a little bit better today. I woke up and had my coffee with no nausea, as the previous days, so I think I've turned the corner. For whatever reason I felt I needed to do some quality work and really make it hurt.... maybe a little mental training?? I gave myself 2.75 myles to warm up and rethink the quality stuff and still felt good so I dug in - 5.5 myles with rolling single track, 400ft of elevation, in 34:53 (6:20 pace) - then a casual 2.75 myles cool down. mmm. mmm. mmm. That hurt!

10 myles - no time

Wildcat Ridge - 8:00 A.M.

50s, clear, dry

mind/body - good

easy effort

The weather has been unseasonably warm for this time of year so I'm feeling I can't waste any of them. Most Saturdays when I'm out on this route it's packed with people but I think most people have either shifted their minds to winter or attending to the kids sports. The run itself was slow and methodical but that's the way I plan to keep it. Thoughts were wandering from what to run next year all the way to what I/we should do during my sabbatical in two years.... I know it's two years away and lots can change but planning is good. Check out this documentary video - The Divide MTB race. It's an hour 20 so make sure you have time before you start cause you'll want to finish it. I'd like to run it someday.

On another note, I was snooping around Pearl Izumi on Thursday trying to get the low-down on plans for the team next year. Nothing definitive on the team but the vibes are good, thanks in large part to Nick and Darcy for their wins at Wasatch. One of the ideas floating around is a Pearl Izumi sponsored ultra series utilizing existing races around the country, similar to the Montrail Ultra Cup. I have my own ideas and thoughts as to what that should look like but I'd like to get input from you all. What 4 races would you pick from around the country that are not part of another series but could draw the best competition with the right circumstances? What distances would you choose? Would it be mountainous or relatively flat? PI is thinking big, but new to the game, so I'd appreciate feedback so that I can take that back to them. I know this for sure, trail running is going to be a huge focus for Pearl Izumi for years to come.

8 myles - 57:23

Wildcat Ridge - 8:00 AM
80s, clear, dry
mind/body - good, relatively speaking
easy effort

Easy effort all the way around but I did want to push the pace a bit (7:10s) to see what the legs would do. I was pretty worked at the end of this one, partly cause of the heat and partly because of recovery. Although no noticeable aches or weird kinks so that's all good. I'll get out tomorrow for another 8 to round out the recovery week with 35 myles.