June 15-21

I suppose I should admit that I'm becoming a grumpy old man because the word that permeated my skull this week was "responsibility". I think there were a few punk rock songs back in the day that shunned the word and made it seem cool to live un-responsibly, but I was too young to grasp the futility of doing anything in life without some small amount of responsibility. It was a catch-22 of, "I'm going to buy this CD about how lame responsibility is by mowing lawns," and I would either not buy the CD because I wasn't responsible enough to follow through with the chore, or I would do it and buy the CD at which point I shouldn't be listening to the CD. The point being, you can't pick up on gimmicks of an easy life and have it all (unless you made your money off lotteries/trust funds/gambling addictions/reality tv/etc).

I think what I've enjoyed in the past week, is the sense of accomplishment coming back around to training well after a slow buildup of mileage through the spring. I've thought long and hard about what type of runner I want to be and all the mistakes I've made along the way, and the overwhelming apparent truth is that I just have to be responsible and take care of myself. If I start to strain a muscle or I am packing for a run, I have to actually take the time to think about the action and consider what else I've learned in my 28 years that might keep me moving towards my goal, rather than hopefully chaotically spinning hopefully towards it.

One big thing was been writing myself a schedule for a month at a time, and following it and thinking through workouts and rest periods on a monthly time frame. There's some adjustment here and there, but there's more re-enforcement that I'm continually engaging in practices that are responsible uses of my time. I might see some Strava CR or beautiful trail in bloom and think I should just go out tomorrow and run it hard, but I also have this sense of responsibility in creating a structure of training for my body to develop and perform at a higher level than just my day by day random training.

For me and all that has transpired thus far in my life, I feel a bit stronger as a runner by stating a goal and doing the empirically proven things for myself rather than being irresponsibly cool. Although it's probably a sign I'm getting old, I'm not going to get a dad-bod.

Monday: Tiny shakeout on the Scenic Mound

Tuesday: 5x10 min, 2 that went well, and 3 that seemed to irritate my ankle a little bit. Went to the Doctor to inspect for a Yucca barb in my ankle, but it turned out it was just a deep wound, and the scab was irritating the top/front part of my ankle. The tendon healed quickly once I learned this.. So I did a recovery run at night with Katie.

Wednesday: Easy 10 with Katie from Will Rodgers, keeping it low key all the way.

Thursday: 7x6min was pretty tough because running with the coyote run made me want to chase down runners I was running circles around. I probably wore myself out good for the weekend, but this would be the time to start pushing my comfort zone in my training cycle.

Friday: Last 25 of AC took awhile in the dark and overgrown trail with Katie. I also realized I hate having too much grip on rocky terrain when I'm sleepy, but lugs can always be chopped down. In general, it was good for Katie and I to have some healthy respect for the course we're be attempting to get Katie a sub-24 hour finish on. When I've ran fast 4:25-ish runs over the last 25, it's made me underestimate it too much.

Saturday: Got to bed at 2:45AM, and woke up at 8:00AM slowly packing for the run to Islip. Once we got underway, it was 10AM and above 80 degrees at 8,000 feet. It was eye opening how much water we went through and how exhausting it was to run uphill. We hiked a lot, and it was a rough first 25 of AC.

Sunday: Slept in and had brunch before we got going around noon (again, another hot day). We got stopped talking to a neighbor for a good 30 minutes (super cool old firefighter who has lived in Wrightwood for 39 years). We eventually got onto the mind-blowing 6x10min intervals up the Blue Ridge Trail/PCT, which was tough in the heat, but much more productive than the alternative of just jogging around easy for an hour. I was proud of Katie and I for finishing off the training block properly.

104 Miles, 20;45, 22,000ft

Hard earned miles in a busy week. The reality of this training style being sustainable and progressive is coming through. Next week is a step back week, but I will be doing quite a few miles Saturday night with the one and only Chivo Loco (Jorge Pacheco) at Western.