• run - 8mi

i think i have a new favorite run. i ran out west on the boulder creek trail, not expecting too much, but once i got up into the canyon it was awesome. a pretty busy road runs near the trail, but it doesn’t even matter: huge slopes on both sides and a loud creek rushing right alongside the path as it wound up into the mountains. it’s nice because it’s busy enough so i’m not scared of being mauled by a mountain lion, but it’s quiet enough to feel like i’m far away from civilization (you can probably tell i’m still a bit wary of wildlife on solo runs). i ran from my door 35 minutes before turning around at the bathrooms. the trip home was obviously quicker without the climb, although i didn’t feel to shabby on the way up.

afterward i hit the recreation center for some light lifting and abs.

feeling strong.

usa vs. ghana tomorrow!!!

• am: cross-fit workout (3mi)

• pm: buffalo ranch (7mi)

road my bike down to buffalo ranch in south boulder (cu’s xc course). i looked at a map of the course before hand and it looked pretty straight-forward, just a few laps of figure-8’s. what i didn’t realize was that the course runs through a cattle ranch so you have to run through a couple of cattle gates here and there. for whatever reason the thought of running within close proximity to a big herd of cattle with no fence between us didn’t sound too appealing. i have no idea what a cow does when it gets startled or if i would be able to outrun one if it decided to chase me (what’s a cow’s top speed?). i mean i know they are herbivores, but still. so instead of doing the course i just ran around the outside of the ranch where i could devote all of my attention to looking out for snakes (jordan saw a 6 foot long one on sunday at boulder res…). i did 4×7:00 at a quicker pace taking 1:30 between. they all felt good except for the 3rd, which was a little sluggish. i always feel a lot better when i do something in the morning. i went pretty late in the evening and the temperature was perfect. as i rode home i could see the sun setting behind the mountains…boulder gets better by the day…

• off

not a thing.

• boulder res (11mi)

was up at the boulder res for jordan’s triathlon, so i ran around before and then while he was on the bike. the run felt good. some dude warned me about the loads of snakes that are apparently out on the backside. luckily, i didn’t see any. however, i did see lots of cows.

<-- the man, the myth, the legend coming into the finish.

part of my run –>

• bike ~5mi

rode the course for jordan’s race tomorrow with him. felt really bad in the beginning, but better once i got going. opted out of doing a second loop and ran later on instead.

• run (4.5mi)

took the boulder creek trail south and felt much better than i’ve been feeling the past few days. saw about 73 rabbits.

• am: cross-fit (3.5mi)

• pm: cheesman w/ jordan (6mi)

had planned on working out tonight, but just wasn’t feeling it. my legs feel dead. just an easy 6 instead.

• swim ~3mi

a short swim but it didn’t feel good at all. lately i’ve felt really good when i swim, but today i felt like i could drown at any moment.

• run: 7.5mi

can’t say i’ll be running on the mesa trail again anytime soon. while it was really nice to run alongside the flatirons, the path was really rocky and incredibly hilly. both the ups and downs were too steep to really enjoy. i managed to fall twice: the first time a mild trip due to looking at the view and not the terrain ahead of me, the second going on a slight downhill that sent me sliding a decent way off the trail on my side. a couple of cuts but nothing bad.

coasted back to campus and did some light lifting/abs.

got my ferratin count back today: 18. my runs don’t feel particularly bad but i’m tired a lot during the day, so that explains that.

• am: cross-fit workout

felt pretty good. nice ice bath in the boulder creek after.

• pm: 8 miles (4 mile tempo)

went to highline canal with jordan. warmed-up 2 miles then did 4 at a quicker pace (7:01, 7:01, 7:03, 7:06). jordan ran with me on the first two miles of the tempo which was really helpful. cooled-down 2 miles and that was it. the whole run felt so much easier than it did a few weeks ago when i was running it at home at a pace that was about 8-10 seconds/mile slower, so i was happy about that.

• off

just did some lifting and abs. my legs are feeling tired.