11 myles - 1.28:26

Mt. Falcon v0.75 - 4:00 PM

80s, clear, dry, windy

mind/body - still chuggin along

hard effort

Another time trial up Falcon to the shelter. Thinking about this run all day is more painful than actually doing it. Once I get up the first 400 meters the lungs and legs start to get into a rhythm and the blood starts to flow - not so bad anymore.

Today I felt strong and smooth not only up to the picnic shelter but all the way around Parmalee. 16:33 to the end of Turkey Trot and 27:57 to the shelter. Last time was 16:28 and 27:40 respectively. A total of 2158 ft of climbing

11 myles - 1.27:06

Mt Falcon v0.75 - 3:00 P.M.
80s, dry, partly cloudy
mind/body - solid
hard effort

A little time trial up to the shelter via Turkey trot. So yeah it was tough! Last time 27:06; This time 27:40. 3 myles, 1800 ft of elevation gain, 12% avg. grade. I remember last time (a full year ago) as if it were yesterday; I was gasping for air, lungs searing, legs burning, and I shuffled around the rest of the run trying to recover. This time was still a hard effort but I tried to keep it under the hood without spilling any lactate. I think I succeeded because my overall time this go round was 5 minutes faster - 1.27:06 vs 1.33:21. So the key takeaway here is know your limit, stay under it, and recover quicker. I was only 34 seconds faster last year but that was all lost this time in the first 1.7 myles (16:01 vs 16:28). Just like Green, there is a strategy, if you try to blow it out in the beginning you will pay for it before you get to the top.

11 myles - 1.33:21

Mt. Falcon v. 0.75 - 6:00 A.M.
clear, mid 70s, dry
mind/body - good
Hard effort

Prescribed workout: 30 minute uphill tempo - total of 90 minutes.

Actual workout: 11 myles - 1.33:21 - avg. 8:29 ~2600 ft of elevation gain. 27:15 tempo to the shelter. Turkey trot - Castle - Parmalee - Meadow - Castle - Turkey trot.

I think that time to the shelter may be the fastest I've done it using the Turkey Trot trail (0.4 longer than Castle). It's about 3 myles with an elevation gain of ~1800 ft. making it an avg. grade of 12%. Knowing that I had just one 30 minute uphill tempo this week (instead of 50 min.) I gave it everything I had and was completely spent when I got to the shelter. After the shelter I didn't push again and just enjoyed being out there.

Here are a couple noteworthy splits:

• End Turkey trot - 16:01 (hard)
  
• Shelter - 27:15 (hard)
  
• End Parmalee - 58:15 (easy)
  
• Start Turkey Trot - 1.16:10 (easy)