6 myles - 45:24

HR urban trails - 8 AM

50s, clear, dry

mind/body - good/not so

easy effort

The weather was fantastic this morning! I felt amazing (initially) then that little niggle in the calf started to work it's way in play. How can that be when my running has been minimal? The only thing I can think of is that the pain meds after the minor procedure weakened my muscles. Not gonna worry about it too much since nothing is on the horizon.... that is, nothing but 3000 myles. I'm at 2991 and with the El Chubbo coming up this weekend I'll hit it no problem. Maybe the body is just sayin' "Simma down now!" The week of skiing next week with the family will take the edge off. Now starting in ernest in January for my run up to Western States and UTMB...

Speaking of "run up", I was looking at race websites and decided to take a look to see how many applicants were signed up for Hard Rock.... BIG MISTAKE! Mistake because I was trying to put HR out of mind for a year and just by looking at the entrants (from all over the world), and then all the awesome pictures, and then... well, one thing led to another and I found myself printing out the application. I can't help it! I am in love with the San Juans, and in particular, The Hard Rock 100. We'll see if I can resist the urge...

8 myles - 57:53

HR urban trails - 8 AM

40s, North wind, dry

mind/body - good

easy effort

Today capped off a 35 mile week; running 4 times, feeling really good each time. I caught myself several times wanting to push the pace but reeled it back each time and made a casual run out of it. Nothing definitive on the racing schedule yet because I'm waiting for PI to finalize their schedule of races they want us to run. Bandera is looking like it's not gonna happen for me right now. I promised my wife I would take care of something in the off season, in which case I would not have time to ramp up to Bandera. To fill in (and if recovery is short) I may go to Rocky Raccoon, and that's a big "may". The big lure is racing the old guys like Joe Kulak and AJW. Other races I'm thinking about early are: Mt. Cheaha 50k, Chuckanut 50K, WTC 50K, and Buffalo 50 mile.

A big congratulations to my mother who ran 2.16 in the Mesquite 1/2 marathon on Saturday. Growing up my mother was not a runner (at least she didn't do it) and just picked this up two years ago. I cannot tell you how proud of her I am!! She called me after the race and she was disappointed, she wanted to go under two hours but the wind was too strong. And she wonders why I keep going back?? I'm sorry mom but you are hooked - keep it up!

Earlier in the week Jaxon had a blessing brunch at his school. The parent's were allowed to come in and share something special about their children. Here is a little video I put together. I was afraid I would not make it through a talk because I (and Nicole) have a tendency to wear our emotions on our sleeves and I didn't want to embarrass Jaxon.

12 myles - 1.25:33

HR urban trails - 8:00 AM

60s, clear, dry

mind/body - clear/strong

easy effort

Finally back to normal! 7:07 pace today with 700 ft of climbing and it felt easy - good signs all around. 52 myles for the week with 69 and 80 the two previous weeks. During this time (post Bear), I had 4 speed/interval workouts with incline and flat. My goal was 6 but didn't quite make it cause of the green apple two step earlier in the week. For the month of October - 275 myles - by far the most I've logged in this month over the last 7 years. October is usually a down month to get ready for the next year so hopefully doing this volume won't be detrimental later next year. November will have to suffice to be a down month this time.

As far as MMTR goes, the last time I ran here was 2005 for a time of 7.52 and 7th place. This was my second year of ultras and was shocked to look back at my training logs to see very low mileage - we're talking 50 mile weeks consistently. Five years later I'm still not a "high mileage" guy (compared to some) but I'm peaking out at 40 more myles/week and smarter about my training. Having said that, I have high hopes to crank out something in the low 7s with Horty there harassing/encouraging me all the way around.

8 myles - 59:00

HR urban trails - 6:30 AM

40s, clear, dry

mind/body - groggy/slow to start

easy effort

Not much to put down here, just the fact that I got out early this morning. I did, however, crank out a good fast mile at the end - 5:49. I also got out yesterday with 9 myles in 1.06. Work is crazy so I won't be able to notch it back up until Friday, in which I'll do 6 x 1 mile @ 5:50 pace. Saturday will be down at Pikes Peak for some elevation and then the CRUD party at Brown-eyes' house. We are having a Domino's pizza eating contest. I believe the rules are simple: just finish a large as fast as you can without barfing. Gotta beat JT for some braggin/smack talking rights. Then again he probably won't show up....

9.5 myles - 1.07:14

HR urban trails - 8 AM

50s, clear, dry

mind/body - still zippy

easy effort

Easy effort but more of a steady, easy effort. Just wanted to be out there an hour so I stayed true to that. Took the watch (even though I was gonna wait till next week) to see if my perceived effort was matching my time - 7:04 pace with 700 ft of climbing, felt solid - so it checks out. Now for the next 3 and 1/2 weeks I need to concentrate on alternating easy/hard days, rather than steady every day. I've mapped out the upcoming weeks by using workouts Paul Dewitt gave me leading up to Squaw Peak last year. And basically what it comes down to is getting in some interval and MP work each week - I think I can handle that.

Was watching some video clips from Karlo's (that's what Myles calls him) Pony Express thing and Myles asked me, "Where's he goin?" "To Missouri, son" "Why? He wooks mad" hmmmmm..... Don't know how to answer that one! Should I start it this way: "You see son...

11 myles - 1.18:33

Wildcat Ridge - 9:00 AM

50s, clear, dry

mind/body - very good

easy effort

Perfect running weather this morning. I'm sure the conditions will be similar up in the Cache Valley next week. The hay is in the barn at this point with not much else to do but eat and rest. 47 myles for the week with only 6283 of climbing. I feel fresh not only in terms of the body but the mind as well. I am very eager and excited for this race. Part of the reason for my excitement is from putting more time and myles over the last 3 weeks than ever before. And I want to see if it translates, I'm confident it will make a difference. But the other reason for my excitement are the pictures below.

This is my son Jaxon at the Buffalo 25K earlier this year. The first thing I noticed was the genuine excitement on his face. It made me realize that we all should feel this way at the start of a race. Getting to the start line should be exciting because you made it through all the training. Then the race itself is a celebration of all the training. So the message here is if you don't feel this sense of excitement on what lies ahead then maybe you should be thinking twice before stepping on that start line.

Jaxon and Rick

Jaxon and Cheryl Meltzer

Ready to go!

Still smiling at the start of the race

Thanks for the inspiration once again Jaxon!

8 myles - 1.01:56

HR urban trails - 7:00 AM

60s, partly cloudy, windy

mind/body - a little hesitant today

very easy effort

Today was the first day in almost two weeks when I really didn't want to run, but in order to keep to my plan - I went out. Once out on the trails I was fine but I was going through the motions. My plan for the last 3 weeks was to mix up the training by doing more mileage and more time on my feet than ever before. I figure since I've taken the same approach to a hundred mile race a dozen times before with a dozen similar results, I should try something different and see if the result is different. So far in my 12 day mini streak: 194 myles.

Harsha and I a year ago yesterday on the CT - day 7

10 myles - 1.12:02

HR urban trails - 7 AM

50s, clear, dry
mind/body - good
easy effort

Really eased into this one. Walked Jaxon to school and contemplated just coming back home... we all know once you're out there, you might as well go run. I started slow and the mind threatened to give up but the body slowly, but surely, responded. By the end I was in the groove and decided to push a bit the last two myles (12:44). The reason for the flaky mind today is the simple fact that I am going 41 with FF tomorrow and then 30 on Saturday with Rick Hessek - that puts me at 99 even if I take Friday and Sunday off. If I'm really committed I will do an easy 6 on Friday to put me over the century mark.

Crazy Jaime boy!

14 myles - 1.47:06

HR urban trails

70s, clear, dry

mind/body - sharp/strong

easy effort

I wasn't going to run today but as I was doing my usually morning routine (drinking coffee and perusing through ultra stuff), I was extremely motivated by Christian Johnson strong performance at The Cascade Crest 100. Christian finished 5th in a time of 21.03, really nice job Christian! What makes this even more special than just a great time is that he is coming off knee surgery just 4 months ago. You are back my friend!

As far as my run, I thought my mojo would wear off 30 or 40 minutes into the run but I kept buzzing so I just kept running. I am in some sort of a good groove right now and I have to go with it. Hopefully it will last through the end of this month. 67 myles for the week after a race is better than I've ever done. Next week I hope to hit the mid 90s and taper from there. Speaking of next week, Thursday will be my one year anniversary to starting the CT so I am planning something big for that day. I'm thinking I will do the first 3 segments of the CT thru Wellington lake road and then have my wife come pick me up. Billed as 41 myles in the CT book and will probably take 7 hours. Guess I'll consider that my birthday run too... Anyone want to join me?

8 myles - 57:11

HR urban trails - 4:00 PM

90s, clear, and very dry

mind/body - I thought good until I started to run

seemed like a hard effort

Man - I felt like junk today! No explanation whatsoever. I thought (if anything) I would be wanting to get after it. So now my confidence is rattled a bit and because I made the statement yesterday "I've been doing the same workouts leading up to Miwok last year", I had to go back and double check. As I dug a little deeper into the workouts last year, I noticed my mileage was less but each workout had an element of quality, meaning some sort of 5:50 pace associated with it. That caused my confidence to sink a little more. So be it. Nothing I can do about it now. Just get to the race and give it what I've got, confidence or not I will have fun! Twitter updates here for the race

8 myles - 58:17

HR urban trails - 9:00 AM
80s, overcast, dry
mind/body - sluggish to start
easy effort

Progress. Each day is a little better than the last. Today started sluggish but by the end I was clipping along at a pretty good pace, in fact, last mile was 6:30. Next race isn't until the end of August (Where's Waldo) but yesterday was a big day for races, in which I was inspired to get back at it. AJdub won Vermont in a decent time, Matt Hart is ahead of record pace on the CT, and my brother in law, Wade, participated in his first trail race - all good stuff.

10 myles - 1.11:11

HR urban trails - 6:00 AM
60s, muggy, clear
mind/body - a little groggy
easy effort

I tried to force myself out the door yesterday, trying to get to 80 myles, but really happy I took the day off. Sometimes we all get caught up in the numbers regardless of how we feel. What I'm finding is that I've become accustomed to 70-80 myles and ~12 hours per week. Sure it's good to push the envelope sometimes but I think the key is "sometimes" and try to find that happy medium in between.

Little aches and pains this morning told me that taking the day off yesterday was a good call, but like all runs they worked themselves out after a couple myles. Very nice this morning, a little muggy/humid, but always nice to be out at the crack of sunlight. 7:07 pace without much effort.